Australia’s Future ASW Frigates: Warfare Down Under
Jun 09, 2020 04:54 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
Latest update [?]
June 9/20: Steel Deal A delivery contract for 1,500 tons of steel plate, for prototypes of the Australian Navy’s Hunter Class frigates was signed, BAE Systems announced. BlueScope Steel AIS will supply the steel to ASC Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of BAE Systems Australia, to construct five ship blocks in the prototyping phase of the program. The blocks will then test processes, systems, tools, and facilities before the start of construction, in 2022, of the first of nine planned frigates.
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ANZAC-ASMD
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As Asia-Pacific nations invest in submarines, serious regional players also need to invest in anti-submarine capabilities. Aircraft like the P-8A Poseidon are great, but nothing really replaces dedicated and capable ASW ships. Their opponents’ anti-ship missiles are also experiencing a jump in capability, so a secondary air defense role isn’t optional. Australia’s 2 remaining FFG-7 Adelaide-class frigates have finished an expensive and somewhat rickety systems upgrade, but they fall short of what’s needed, and won’t last all that much longer. The Adelaide-class will soon be succeeded by 3 new Hobart-class AWD. The RAN’s 8 ANZAC-class frigates are receiving much smoother ASMD air defense upgrades that will make them quite useful, but their service life will begin ebbing around 2024. Hence Australia’s SEA 5000 Future Frigate program, which may receive an early push from issues with Australia’s naval industrial base…
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SEA 5000 Future Frigate Options
Made in Australia: Hobart Lite
Plan B: Buying Abroad
Contracts & Key Events
Additional Readings
Background: Preferred Choices
Background: Other Possibilities
F105 sea trials
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HNoMS F-310
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Upgraded ANZAC
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June 9/20: Steel Deal A delivery contract
for 1,500 tons of steel plate, for prototypes of the
Australian Navy’s
Hunter Class frigates was signed, BAE Systems
announced. BlueScope Steel AIS will supply the steel to
ASC Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of BAE Systems Australia, to
construct five ship blocks in the prototyping phase of the
program. The blocks will then test processes, systems, tools,
and facilities before the start of construction, in 2022, of
the first of nine planned frigates.
March 4/20: Final Hobart Destroyer Delivered
Australia
took delivery of the Royal Australian Navy’s third and
final
Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyer, the future HMAS
Sydney, at the Osborne naval shipyard in Adelaide on February
28. The third Hobart-class destroyer is expected to be
commissioned in Sydney on May 20 and undertake work-up
activities until the end of the year in preparation for up to
six months of US Navy Combat System Ship Qualification
trials. These will include firings over the Pacific Test
Range off San Diego of the destroyer’s RIM-66 SM-2 Block 3B
and RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSMs) air-defense
missiles. First-of-class HMAS Hobart was commissioned in 2017
while the second, HMAS Brisbane , was commissioned the
following year: each more than two years behind the original
schedule, which itself was re-baselined three times.
February 19/20: Exercises Warships of the
Royal Australian Navy left the port of Sydney on Monday to
conduct
ready-to-deploy exercises. The three-week-event is known
as the sea phase of Fleet Certification Period 2020. It will
verify the capabilities of participating vessels. The
destroyers
HMAS Hobart and HMAS Arunta, the frigate HMAS Stuart and
the fleet replenishment vessel Sirius left Sydney for the
Bass Straits, separating Australia from Tasmania, where they
will meet five other warships and submarines. Military
aircraft, including a Royal Australian Air Force
P-8A, a United States Navy P-8, a Royal New Zealand Air
Force
P-3K and three Royal Australian Navy
MH-60R helicopters, will also participate. Exercises
include work by an Australian navy anti-mine unit on the
Tasmanian coast.
January 20/20: Surface Combatant Program The
US Department of State has approved a potential $1.5 billion
Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Australia of long-lead
items, engineering development activities and other defense
services to support the
Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) Surface Combatant
Program, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)
announced on January 15. The government in Canberra had
requested to procure these items and services from the United
States to support the program, which includes the
modernization of the RAN’s three Hobart Class Air Warfare
Destroyers and the construction of the first three of nine
Hunter Class frigates, according to the DSCA.
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