Completion of the world's most advanced air defence warship by BAE Systems has moved a step closer with the installation of the company's advanced Sampson radar on top of HMS Daring, the first of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers. The radar will now be integrated with the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) and the vessel's combat system at the company's Clyde shipyard.

Sampson, which will sit nearly 40 metres above sea level at the top of the ship's mast, will provide an all-seeing eye for the defence of the Type 45 and the fleet it is designed to protect. It can detect even tiny, fast-moving targets out to a distance of hundreds of kilometres and provide second-by-second information to the PAAMS system's Aster missiles to neutralise threats. The radar is capable of tracking hundreds of targets at any one time and will provide a massive improvement to the Royal Navy's current self-defence capability.

Dave Twitchin, the MOD's Type 45 project leader said: "The installation of Sampson on board Daring is a fundamental step forward for the program. The radar is a vital component in the ship's defence system, and will allow the Type 45 destroyer to deliver significant capabilities to the Royal Navy fleet."

BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions' managing director Vic Emery said: "The Type 45 is the most advanced warship in the world to date. The achievement of this milestone means that Daring remains on course to begin sea trials later this year, when the full integration of the radar can really begin in earnest."

The Type 45 programme will provide the Royal Navy with a versatile destroyer capable of contributing to worldwide maritime and joint operations for much of the first half of this century. As well as providing a specialist air warfare capability, the ships are also versatile assets capable of performing tasks from peace support and defence diplomacy through to high-intensity warfare.

Sampson is the first of a new generation of multi-function radars. It provides surveillance, target tracking and missile guidance information for the MBDA Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) that will be the main armament of the Type 45. This air defence system is so advanced it can track, identify and eliminate a potential threat the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound. Its Aster missiles can manoeuvre at 60G, 20 times more than a Formula 1 car.

The contract from the UK Ministry of Defence, through the tri-national PAAMS programme office based in Paris, is to provide three prototype radars to qualify the PAAMS missile system and the Type 45 destroyer combat system and provide the initial production system for the first-of-class ship HMS Daring. Five further production radars are also on order.