The Type 45 or Daring-class are the most modern air defense destroyers in the Royal Navy, replacing the venerable Type 42s that had been the mainstays of the fleet into the 21st century. The Type 45 was conceived from the NATO NFR-90 frigate requirement and is designed around the Sea Viper air defense system, itself based on the PAAMS, a common British, French and Italian design. The Sea Viper is composed of the SAMPSON AESA radar and the S1850M 3-D air surveillance radar which in conjunction can track as many as 2,000 targets while coordinating numerous missiles simultaneously. These are either Aster 15 or 30 anti-aircraft missiles, fired from 48 VLS launchers. Unlike the US AEGIS, the SAMPSON is composed of two rotating planar arrays located at the top of a mast. This reduces volume and extends the horizon distance. The design of the ship also incorporates numerous stealth elements such as multi-faceted surfaces and panels to hide the deck equipment and life rafts. Other anti-aircraft defenses include Oerlikon guns and Phalanx CIWS. Other armament includes two quadruple Harpoon launchers and a 4.5-in Mk. 8 gun. The Type 45 can also carry either a single Merlin or two Lynx ASW helicopters in a large enclosed hangar. Despite their formidable air defense capabilities, the Type 42 destroyers have been criticized for their high cost, weak anti-surface and anti-ship capabilities, and the small number produced (only six from an original requirement for 12). They will nevertheless be the most powerful surface ships in the Royal Navy for the foreseeable future.

None of the Type 45 ships have been involved in major operations although some have undertaken anti-piracy patrols or escort duties in the Middle East. HMS Diamond was notable for escorting ships carrying chemical weapons from Syria in 2014.