All Go With NATO

About 9.30am I got called out to travel between Newport to Heath Hospital, Cardiff. the roads were amazingly clear and not what I expected. So after my drop, it wasn't far to head to Cardiff Bay where I fancied taking a photo of the warships in the dock.

A few of the roads were blocked off to traffic but not pedestrians. Police were everywhere. The weather was overcast and cool today, but they told me it was very hot yesterday and they needed loads of fluids. Some don't travel back to their forces until Sunday and have been here since the middle of the week. Better than be an oil rigger or in the forces I suppose.

The blip photo is of one of the warships, HMS Duncan, docked outside offices and flats in the bay. Quite exciting for residents.

HMS Duncan No7 is a Type 45 destroyer.  Built by BAE Systems Surface Fleet, construction began on 26th January 2007. She was launched on 11 October 2010 in Govan and fitted out in Scotstoun She will be the first of the Type 45 class to be capable of deploying Harpoon. She cost £1 billion.

Her capability is amazing:  The Type 45 destroyers are primarily designed for anti-air warfare with the capability to defend against sophisticated targets such as fighter aircraft, drones as well as highly maneuverable sea skimming anti-ship missiles travelling at supersonic speeds.

The Royal Navy describes the destroyers' mission as being "to shield the Fleet from air attack". The Type 45 destroyer is equipped with the sophisticated Sea Viper (PAAMS). The PAAMS system is able to track over 2,000 targets and simultaneously control and coordinate multiple missiles in the air at once, allowing a large number of tracks to be intercepted and destroyed at any given time. This makes the PAAMS system particularly difficult to swamp during a saturation attack, even against supersonic targets. It is suggested that the SAMPSON radar is capable of tracking 1,000 objects the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound (Mach 3), emphasising the system's capabilities against high performance stealth targets!!

Just after 3pm, I had another call out to travel to Chepstow (past the Celtic Manor where NATO is being held) and feared the worse. Again the roads were clear.

This evening they travel to Cardiff to be wined and dined. Hopefully, I'll be relaxing at home!