LONDON, March 17 (UPI) -- The British Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer program is making important progress, according to a recent evaluation by the U.K. National Audit Office.
The NAO released a report saying the over-budget Type 45 destroyer program, the Royal Navy's new air defense destroyer warship program, is progressing and meeting milestones, the British Ministry of Defense reported.
The NAO report said that despite early program delays, escalating costs and setbacks with the anti-air missile system, the Ministry of Defense has "taken action to resolve these problems," and now the project has completed sea trials and other critical objectives.
"The early years of the Type 45 destroyer project were beset by problems," Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said in a statement.
"The Ministry of Defense is currently controlling costs and timescales successfully, but it now needs to focus on installing the other equipment the ships need to obtain their full capability and on getting to grips with developing an effective support solution to be ready in time to support these destroyers."
