Page 99 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2021

DECEMBER 2020 – JANUARY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PROJECT REVIEW MARITIME 99
Reynolds, “to demonstrate our collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific”.
The exercise has grown in scope and complexity, and in- volved HMAS Ballarat in high-end tactical training and weap- ons exercises in company with US and Indian aircraft carriers.
Weeks later, Australia and Japan agreed in principle to a landmark Reciprocal Access Agreement allowing reciprocal visits for operations and training.
If finalised, the agreement will be the first pact by Japan allowing a foreign military presence on its soil since a 1960 accord with the US, and has obvious potential for joint ex- ercises by the RAN and Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force in the East and South China Seas.
ALL AWDS ON DECK
HMAS Sydney, the RAN’s third and final Hobart-class AWD, was commissioned in May following delivery several months earlier than scheduled – an unusual event in the delay-prone 13-year AWD program.
This followed a decision to modify the storage of Mk54 an- ti-submarine torpedoes and Hellfire air-to-surface missiles for the ship’s MH-60R naval combat helicopter as part of the ship’s construction process rather than after its completion.
Upgrading the AWDs’ Aegis combat systems to boost their air and missile defence capability will begin in 2024, Defence Minister Reynolds announced in September.
The upgrade, expected to be to the latest Baseline 9 configuration, will include the design and development by Saab Australia of a new Australian Tactical Interface that
will interface all Australian-specific equipment into Aegis. In conjunction with effectors more capable than the cur- rent Standard SM-2 Block IIIB anti-air missiles – probably the SM-6 Dual 1 surface-to-air missile with a range of about 370km – Baseline 9 will give the AWDs a terminal
phase ballistic missile defence capability.
ANZAC FUTURE
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) disclosed in March that it had been advised by Defence in June 2018 that all eight Anzac-class frigates will have their service life extended by up to 10 years pending the entry into service of the replacement Hunter-class, the first of which is expected to enter service in 2027.
The oldest of the Anzac-class, HMAS Anzac, was due to retire in 2025 but will not be withdrawn until 2030 whilst the youngest ship, HMAS Perth, was to have been with- drawn in 2032-33 but will now remain in service until 2043.
Defence had been aware since at least 2012 that sustain- ment arrangements for the Anzac-class had not kept pace with higher-than-expected operational usage and the RAN needed to address potential risks relating to the frigates’ material condition, to maintain seaworthiness and capabil- ity, the ANAO stated.
ABOVE: HMAS Stuart passes HMAS Hobart as she prepares to come alongside her homeport of Fleet Base East in Sydney.
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