Page 102 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2021

102 PROJECTREVIEW MARITIME
BELOW: HMAS Ballarat conducts a calibration firing of its five-inch gun port side.
DECEMBER 2020 – JANUARY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
The next design benchmark, the Systems Functional Re- view that will define the layouts for all the major items of equipment including the combat system suite, is on track to start in January.
“We want to strike a functional baseline that gives us con- fidence that the design of the submarine and its ability to accommodate the combat suite will meet our functional per- formance specification,” General Manager Submarines Greg Sammut told ADM.
LHDS
November saw HMAS Canberra enter her first deep main- tenance period at Garden Island, Sydney since commission- ing in 2014. This involves preventative maintenance, the
An additional Phalanx will be deployed to the Naval Training Systems Centre in Sydney and a further system will be used as a rotatable pool spare.
SUPPLY CLASS
The 19,500 tonne AOR NUSHIP Supply arrived at Fleet Base West in October from sea trials and Spanish ship- builder Navantia. Supply is being fitted with specialised equipment while in Fremantle, including its Phalanx CIWS, a communications suite, two 25mm Typhoon re- mote weapon stations, and its combat system.
Supply will replace the decommissioned HMAS Success in service on the east coast when it is commissioned in early 2021, while the follow-on NUSHIP Stalwart will replace the Navy’s west coast AOR, HMAS Sirius, in 2022.
PATROL BOATS
October saw the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) program reach another milestone with the two halves of the first- of-class coming together at ASC’s Osborne yard to form a complete hull. Two OPVs are being built by ASC and 10 in Western Australia, where the keel of Ship 3 was laid at Civmec’s Henderson facility in September.
The first of the 1,800 tonne, 80 metre OPVs is scheduled to enter service in 2022 on constabulary and border protec- tion duties, with their light armament – a single stabilised 40mm main gun and two 12.7 mm machine guns – attract- ing some critical comment given their inherent potential to contribute to warfighting across the RAN’s operations.
Six Cape-class patrol boats are meanwhile under con- struction for the RAN at Henderson-based Austal under a $324 million contract awarded in July.
The first delivery is scheduled for September 2021 with subsequent deliveries of the 57.8 metre, aluminium-hulled vessels continuing through to mid-2023. Eight of the class are already operated by the Australian Border Force and two are currently leased by the RAN.
Crew capacity has been increased by 10 to 32 and qual- ity-of-life provisions have been enhanced, Austal says. ■
“SIX CAPE-CLASS PATROL BOATS ARE MEANWHILE UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR THE RAN AT HENDERSON- BASED AUSTAL UNDER A $324 MILLION CONTRACT AWARDED IN JULY.”
ship’s class and navy classifications, rectifying defects, completing engi- neering changes, and improving the material state of the ship, and will largely take place in dry dock.
Earlier in the year the Nulka ac- tive missile decoy capability was in- stalled on Canberra and her sister ship HMAS Adelaide. Defence later disclosed that both LHDs will re- ceive Phalanx 20mm close-in weap- on systems (CIWS) upgraded to the Block 1B Baseline 2 configuration. This introduces a digital hardware
upgrade for the search and tracking radars that improves the short-range air radar picture.
Three Phalanx systems per ship are understood to have been approved for each LHD, with the eventual number depending on final design and radar cross-section analysis.
The RAN’s first upgraded Phalanx system already equips HMAS Sydney. The capability will now be progressively installed through to 2023 aboard the two other AWDs, the two LHDs, the 16,000 tonne Land Dock Ship HMAS Choules, and the two Supply-class Auxiliary Oiler Replen- ishment (AOR) vessels.
DEFENCE