Wildcat helicopter replacing Royal Navy's Westland Lynx passes first major test

The newest helicopter in the Royal Navy's arsenal came through its toughest test, spending a fortnight taking part in Europe's biggest naval war games.
Wildcat joined HMS Dragon on Exercise Joint Warrior. It is the first time the helicopter – normally based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset with 700W Naval Air Squadron – has spent such a concerted time at sea, and the first time it has taken part in the exercise aboard a ship.
From next year, Wildcat will start to replace the Lynx as the mainstay of aerial operations by the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers.
Although it looks similar to its predecessor, Wildcat is a different aircraft, from the way it handles, to the equipment aboard – which is a generation ahead of that on the Lynx.
Later this year Wildcat will go through two months of intensive Operational Sea Training with a Type 23 frigate to prepare ship and helicopter for deployment.
Wildcat is due to be declared operational in early 2015 and is due to deploy for the first time with a Royal Navy warship on the North Atlantic patrol next May.
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Final Type 45 Destroyer Enters UK Royal Navy Service

The Royal Navy’s sixth and final Type 45 destroyer has entered service four months ahead of schedule.
HMS Duncan’s entry into service marks the end of a 13-year build program to provide Britain with a fleet of anti-air destroyers to replace the old Type 42 vessels, the last of which, HMS Edinburgh, was decommissioned in the summer of 2013.
The 7,500-ton warship was commissioned in September and will be based at Portsmouth along with the other vessels of its class. All of the warships were built by BAE Systems.
The first of class, HMS Daring, entered service in mid-2009. Originally, the British intended to purchase 12 destroyers but whittled the number down as costs rose and requirements changed.
The entry into service of HMS Duncan brings the Royal Navy’s surface combat fleet up to its full strength of 19 warships — Six Type 45s and 13 Type 23 frigates.
The Type 23s will be gradually replaced by the Type 26 frigate. Design work on that warship is already well advanced and a decision on building the first of the new warships is scheduled for 2016.
The government said it will place a first order with BAE covering eight Type 26s. The MoD remains committed to a fleet of 13 frigates for the time being but the actual number has been clouded slightly by a recent order of three offshore patrol boats capable of operating a Merlin helicopter.
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Babcock delivers Type 23 frigate on-time, in-budget

Type 23 frigate HMS Portland left Babcock’s Rosyth dockyard Thursday 13 December, to return to her base port of Plymouth at peak effectiveness following significant upgrades and improvements, after successful completion of a substantial upgrade and maintenance programme.


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