LEAD: Britain's most modern destroyer to set sail for South Atlantic

Jan 31, 2012, 21:37 GMT

London - Britain's Royal Navy is set to deploy a new state-of-the-art warship to the South Atlantic in a move it said was unconnected to the current tension with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, is due to set sail for the South Atlantic on her maiden mission in the coming months to replace the frigate HMS Montrose, the Ministry of Defence in London said.

Officials said the deployment was long planned, however, and not a riposte to tensions over the sovereignty of the islands between Britain and Argentina.

Argentina rejected what it called a 'British attempt to militarize' a conflict on which the United Nations has repeatedly called for dialogue, according to a Foreign Ministry statement in Buenos Aires.

'Governments have to avoid the temptation of engaging in discourse that transforms patriotism into chauvinism,' the Argentine Foreign Ministry said.

In the statement, Argentina, citing the economic crisis in the European Union, also charged that Britain was trying to distract public attention from the 'austere economic policies' and 'high unemployment.'

A Royal Navy spokesman rejected suggestions that the decision to send the ultra-modern destroyer to the region represented an escalation of Britain's position.

'The Royal Navy has had a continuous presence in the South Atlantic for many years. The deployment of HMS Dauntless to the South Atlantic has been long planned, is entirely routine and replaces another ship on patrol,' he said.

The Type 45 destroyers are armed with high-tech Sea Viper anti-air missiles and can carry 60 troops. They also have a large flight deck which can accommodate helicopters the size of a Chinook as well as take on board 700 people in the case of a civilian evacuation.

The 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict between Britain and Argentina, in which 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons died, falls due in June.

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