Shield of the Falklands: £1billion destroyer HMS Dauntless sent south as tensions rise

  • Deployment comes after rows between British and Argentine governments
  • Countries arguing over sovereignty of islands
  • MoD deny sending out Type 45 destroyer in response to increased tensions
  • Say move was 'long planned'
  • British minister will travel to the islands to commemorate 30th anniversary of Falklands war

By Ian Drury for the Daily Mail
Updated:

The Royal Navy’s most sophisticated warship has been ordered to the Falklands in a display of strength as tensions rise with Argentina.

Britain is sending the £1billion Type 45 destroyer Dauntless on a seven-month deployment to the South Atlantic while Buenos Aires ratchets up pressure over sovereignty of  the islands.

The vessel, which bristles with fearsome anti-aircraft weapons, will patrol the coastline during celebrations to mark the liberation of the islands 30 years ago.

Fact file on the HMS Dauntless and its capabilities

Fact file on the HMS Dauntless and its capabilities

Officials said sending out the Type 45 destroyer on her maiden voyage was not a response to increased tensions over the sovereignty of the islands and that it had been planned for a while

Officials said sending out the Type 45 destroyer on her maiden voyage was not a response to increased tensions over the sovereignty of the islands and that it had been planned for a while

This will coincide with Prince William’s posting to the Falklands as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot – seen by Argentina as a provocative act.

And Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne has announced he will visit the Falklands in June for  the commemorations.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that Dauntless would sail at the end of March, but insisted it was a ‘routine’ deployment.

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner
It comes amid a diplomatic war of words over renewed Argentinian claims to what it calls Las Malvinas, with David Cameron accusing them of 'colonialism

After returning to work following a cancer scare, Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez, wasted little time in attacking David Cameron's 'colonialism' statement, saying Britain didn't have 'reasons or arguments' 

Falkland Islands GRAPHIC.jpg

In December, the Mercosur grouping of countries, which includes Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay, announced that it would ban ships sailing under the Falkland Islands flag from docking at their ports

GIBRALTAR: ANOTHER SORE POINT

The British people of Gibraltar should be barred from any talks over the future of the disputed colony, Spain has said. Mariano Rajoy, the country's new Prime Minister, risked a furious diplomatic row by insisting officials on the Rock should be excluded from sovereignty discussions.

David Cameron is facing fresh calls from Madrid to open negotiations on ownership of the territory. The UK premier angered Spanish MEPs last week by insisting that the future of Gibraltar would depend on the colony's 30,000 residents. Going against their wishes of the people - who have in the past voted to remain British - would amount to 'recolonisation', he said.

But Mr Rajoy and Spain's new foreign minister José Manuel García-Margallo have vowed to raise demands for fresh talks with the EU. Mr Garcia-Margallo has already written to British Foreign Secretary William Hague stressing that there was no mention of self-determination for Gibraltans in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity under the treaty after the Napoleonic Wars. But Madrid has defiantly refused to recognise the agreement, which includes territorial waters three miles around the Rock, and has repeatedly tried to reclaim them.

Under the previous Labour Spanish government, the authorities in Gibraltar were included in three-way talks with Madrid and London. But the discussions stalled last year after clashes in waters near the Rock between the Royal Navy, Gibraltan police and Spain's Guardia Civil.

Earlier this month, Mr Garcia-Margallo made a sneaky jibe over the disputed sovereignty of Gibraltar in the European Parliament. As Tory Euro MP Charles Tannock rose to congratulate him on his appointment, the Spaniard quipped: 'Gibraltar, Español.', which translates as 'Gibraltar, Spanish!'.

She is taking over from HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate which is far less powerful. However,  Naval commanders admitted sending the state-of-the-art warship to the region would deliver a strong signal that Britain had no intention of relinquishing the disputed territory.

A Navy source said: ‘Dauntless is an elite warship.

‘She is going to the Falklands on a routine deployment, but the fact that the Navy is sending her  and not one of the older warships is significant.’

Tensions between the two countries have heightened with the approaching 30th anniversary of the 1982 Falklands conflict, which cost the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentine servicemen.

Buenos Aires has recently renewed claims to the islands. It has imposed an economic blockade on Falklands fishing vessels, which have been repeatedly intimidated by Argentine warships.

The islands’ population of 3,000 want to remain British.

Tory MP Julian Brazier, a  member of the defence select committee, said: ‘This sends a very powerful and timely message to Argentina that Britain means business when it comes to defending the Falklands.’

A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘The deployment of HMS Dauntless to the South Atlantic has  been long planned, is entirely routine and replaces another ship  on station.’

Admiral Lord Alan West, former First Sea Lord and Falklands veteran who led HMS Ardent when she was sunk by Argentina with the loss of 22 men, said: 'The Type 45s are becoming a key part of our modern force.

'The thing that is fascinating about them is they have got the most amazing anti-air warfare capability.

'Should there be any foolish nonsense from Argentina, Dauntless can sit just off the airfield and take down any aircraft coming in. It is a game-changing capability.'

Meanwhile former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson said it would be ‘just about impossible’ to retake the Falklands if Argentina invades.

General Sir Mike Jackson warned that defence cuts meant that the UK no longer has the capability to get the islands back if the Argentines secured the airfield.

The issue is especially sensitive as the 30th anniversary approaches of the liberation of the islands by Britain from an Argentine invasion

The issue is especially sensitive as the 30th anniversary approaches of the liberation of the islands by Britain from an Argentine invasion

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