HMS Dragon (D35)

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Career

Ordered:	December 2000
Laid down:	December 2005
Launched:	expected 2008
Commissioned:	expected 2011
Fate:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	7350 tonnes
Length:	152.4 m
Beam:	21.2 m
Draught:	5.0 m
Propulsion:	2 Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, Alstom electric motors
Speed:	more than 27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles / 13 000 km (at economical speed)
Complement:	190
Armament:	PAAMS Air Defence Missile System: 6 x 8 cell SYLVER VLS Aster 15 missiles Aster 30 missiles SAMPSON radar S1850M 3D radar 2 Phalanx CIWS (Close-in weapons system) BAE Systems 114 mm (4.5 inch) Mk 8 Mod. 1 gun 2 x 30 mm guns
Decoy Systems:	Seagnat and active torpedo (initial) infra-red 'spoofing' device (for retrofit)
Other Armaments:	Launch capability and space for 8 RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles Hullspace, power and control systems for future installation of ship-launched torpedo system
Aircraft:	Lynx HMA8 (initial) Merlin HM1 (for retrofit)
Motto:

For other ships to have carried the name, see HMS Dragon.

HMS Dragon is the fourth ship of the Type 45 or 'D' Class of air defence destroyer (AAW) being built for the Royal Navy.

Dragon's construction began at the BAE Systems Naval Ships yard at Scotstoun on the River Clyde in December 2005.

She is both the first type of warship to include e-mail and entertainment systems (including iPod charging points) within the messdecks and the first Royal Navy vessel to include gender-neutral living spaces to accommodate male and female crew members.

HMS Dragon will be, when complete, one of the most advanced and powerful air defence warships in the world. Its revolutionary radar can track every aircraft for several hundred miles.