Page 92 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec19-Jan20

92 PROJECTS MARITIME
DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
A BIG YEAR FOR MARITIME PROGRAMS
Steady progress in the naval domain throughout 2019 saw the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program nearing completion while the Future Submarine and Future Frigate planning both making encouraging headway.
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JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
THE year also encompassed the decommissioning of the RAN’s last two Adelaide-class guided missile frigates, com- pletion of a mid-life upgrade for the first of the eight An- zac-class frigates, and Full Operational Capability (FOC) reached by the two Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs).
The RAN’s third and final AWD, NUSHIP Sydney, suc- cessfully completed its sea trials in October, putting the ship on track for delivery to the RAN in February 2020 after the completion of modifications involving the storage of Mk 54 torpedoes and AGM-114N Hellfire missiles for the ship’s MH-60R naval combat helicopter.
Delivery will complete the acquisition phase of the $8
HUNTER CLASS
The decision to replace the Anzac fleet with an Austra- lianised version of the BAE Systems (BAES) Type 26 Glob- al Combat Ship was only made in June 2018.
Nevertheless, within six months, a head contract had been signed and the peppercorn sale of Commonwealth- owned ASC Shipbuilding (ASCS) to BAE Systems Austra- lia for at least the duration of the Hunter-class build, had been concluded.
The head contract incorporates allowable profit margins, other terms and conditions, the acquisition of long lead ma- terial, and the detailed scope for design and engineering work necessary to allow prototyping to begin in December 2020 and to ensure that steel is cut on the first ship in 2022.
billion AWD program whose construct was lic in the 2000 Defence White Paper, and commissioning is expected to take place early in the second quarter of 2020.
The first AWD, HMAS Hobart, was com- missioned in September 2017 while the second-of-class, HMAS Brisbane, entered service in late October 2018.
first made pub-
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Reflecting a demanding schedule, by exit 2019 the first major design review had been completed and the transfer from the UK to Australia of Type 26 IP, design data, build processes, IT systems, supply chain data and knowledge was underway.
Impressive progress had also been made with construction of the $530 mil- lion Osborne South shipyard that will be leased to ASCS by Commonwealth- owned Australian Naval Infrastructure for the Hunter-class build.
In April HMAS Hobart and then-NUSH-
IP Brisbane successfully tested their Coop-
erative Engagement Capability (CEC) off
the coast of South Australia, establishing
a secure connection and sharing tracking
and fire control data. Australia is the first nation outside the US to receive the CEC, which combines sensor infor- mation and real-time combat system data to allow one ship to engage an adversary using the other ship’s data.
Although ASCS will not move into the new facility un- til July 2020, expression-of-interest requests to industry to prepare the program’s supply chain for the start of proto- typing were already being released in late 2019.
By December the Future Frigate workforce was 540-strong across Australia and the UK with the majority in Australia, and more than 950 potential Australian sup- pliers had been pre-registered through the Industry Capa- bility Network and were being advised by ASCS of supply chain processes, terms and commitments.
OPVS
ASCS’ existing resources at the Osborne naval shipyard meanwhile were being utilised by subcontractor ASC un- der contract to prime contractor Luerssen Australia to con-
“IN NOVEMBER THE RAN’S TWO CANBERRA-CLASS LANDING HELICOPTER DOCKS (LHDS) ACHIEVED FINAL OPERATING CAPABILITY (FOC).”
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In a first for the RAN, six months later HMAS Bris- bane completed a live missile engagement in partnership with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stockdale, utilising its CEC during combat system sea trials off the US coast.
The CEC will also be integrated into the Aegis combat management system of the Hunter-class Future Frigates along with a Saab-developed interface and the CEAFAR2 active phase array radar, providing the RAN with a coop- erative and significantly enhanced air defence capability across both the Hobart and Hunter classes.