Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timeframe is for the (a) completion of the engine refit programme on Type 45 ships and (b) for those ships to be in service.

All Type 45 Destroyers will receive new diesel generators under the Power Improvement Project conversion programme. Work is currently underway on HMS Dauntless, the first ship to enter the programme, and she will return to sea for trials in 2021. Following completion of these sea trials, she will return to the fleet.

It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received this upgrade by the mid-2020s. The programme is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments.

The Type 45 Destroyers are hugely capable ships and have been deployed successfully on a range of operations world-wide and they continue to make an enormous contribution to the defence of the UK and our international partners.