Britain said Tuesday it was sending a new state-of-the-art warship to the Falklands, but insisted the deployment was purely routine despite rising tensions over the islands' sovereignty.

Defence ministry officials said the decision to send HMS Dauntless to the South Atlantic Ocean waslongplanned.

The Type 45 destroyer is due to head out on her maiden voyage in the coming months to replace the smaller Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose.

The Falklands dispute is especially sensitive as the 30th anniversary approaches of the war between Britain and Argentina over the barren islands.

Buenos Aires denounced what it called a "militarisation" of the dispute.

Prime Minister David Cameron angered Argentina last week by accusing it of "colonialism" over the British overseas territory which Buenos Aires claims belongs to Argentina.

That led Argentine President Cristina Kirchner to accuse Cameron of portraying her country as "violent" in the dispute.

Argentina's then-ruling junta launched an invasion on April 2, 1982. Britain restored its control following a 74-day war which cost the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British troops.

Tensions over the 30th anniversary have been raised by the announcement that Prince William, Queen Elizabeth ITs grandson and the second in line to throne, will soon spend six weeks on a routine deployment to the Falklands as an air force search and rescue helicopter pilot.