The Type 43 was a proposed

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

class for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. It was intended to follow on from the Type 42 but armed with the Sea Dart Mark II missile. The primary role of the Type 43 was to protect a task force from air-launched missile attack. There were two proposed variants - the small variant and the large variant. The project advanced to feasibility design before being cancelled in 1981.

Small variant

The design for the small variant Type 43 resembled a Type 42 with one twin Sea Dart launcher forward and directors fore and aft.

Large variant

The design for the large variant Type 43 had twin Sea Dart launchers both forward and aft with four radar directors. Also, two GWS.25 Seawolf launchers were located forward and aft. With launchers at both ends the flight deck was relocated midships between the two superstructure blocks. The helicopter hangar would have room for one

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

or two

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

helicopters.

Type 44

The Type 44 was proposed as a similar to the small variant Type 43, but with enhanced anti-submarine capability.

Cancellation

The Type 43/44 programme was cancelled by the

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the ...

John Nott in the 1981 defence review.

References

* * {{cite book , title=British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After , first=Norman , last=Friedman , publisher=Greenhill Books , year=2006 , isbn=1-86176-137-6 Destroyer classes 43 Ship classes of the Royal Navy Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom