Australian air warfare destroyer
Encyclopedia
The Hobart class of destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, known during their planning phase as the Australian Air Warfare Destroyer or SEA 4000, is a class of three ships scheduled to begin entering service with the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN) in 2013.
The class is a derivative of the Spanish F105 design
Álvaro de Bazán class frigate
The Álvaro de Bazán class are a new class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defense frigates entering service with the Spanish Navy...
and are being developed by the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance—the Defence Materiel Organisation
Defence Materiel Organisation
The Defence Materiel Organisation is the Australian Government agency responsible for the acquisition, through-life support and disposal of equipment for the Australian Defence Force...
, ASC
Australian Submarine Corporation
The ASC, formerly Australian Submarine Corporation, is a wholly government-owned Australian naval defence company headquartered at Osborne in Adelaide, South Australia.-History:...
and Raytheon Australia, in partnership with Navantia
Navantia
Navantia, formerly Bazán or IZAR, is a Spanish shipbuilding firm, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world with shipyards all over Spain....
. Seventy percent of construction work is subcontracted to BAE Systems Australia
BAE Systems Australia
BAE Systems Australia, a subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, is the largest defence contractor in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holdings in 2007 and Tenix Defence in June 2008.-History:BAE Systems'...
and the Forgacs Group
Forgacs Group
Forgacs Group is a major Australian engineering and shipbuilding company. It has facilities at Newcastle, Sydney, Brisbane and Gladstone. The company employs 700 people....
.
Australian Air Warfare Destroyer program
The 2000 Defence White Paper stated that the RAN would replace the Adelaide class frigatesAdelaide class frigate
The Adelaide class is a ship class of six guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. The class is based on the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, but modified for Australian requirements...
with three air warfare destroyers, under the Sea 4000 project, from 2014. These ships will perform the same area air defence role as the withdrawn Perth class destroyers
Perth class destroyer
The Perth class destroyers were three modified Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Ordered from Defoe Shipbuilding Company during 1962 and 1963, HMA Ships , , and were the first guided missiled-armed warships, and the first naval ships of United...
; the Chief of the Navy described their key capability as providing "a protective 'bubble' over whatever area they’re working in", in which any hostile aircraft or missiles will be detected and shot down by the ship's combat systems. The consortium responsible describes the ships as capable of engaging enemy aircraft "at a range of over 150 kilometres". The ships will be supplemented by the Anzac class
Anzac class frigate
The Anzac class is a ship class of ten frigates; eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy...
frigates.
Tendering
In August 2005, the Australian Government announced that Gibbs & CoxGibbs & Cox
Gibbs & Cox is a U.S. naval architecture firm that specializes in designing surface warships. Founded in 1922 in New York City, Gibbs & Cox is now headquartered in Arlington, Virginia....
was the 'preferred designer' of the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD), with this design being a variant of Gibbs & Cox's Arleigh Burke class
Arleigh Burke class destroyer
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the United States Navy's first class of destroyer built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of...
. The F100
Álvaro de Bazán class frigate
The Álvaro de Bazán class are a new class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defense frigates entering service with the Spanish Navy...
, designed by Navantia
Navantia
Navantia, formerly Bazán or IZAR, is a Spanish shipbuilding firm, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world with shipyards all over Spain....
, was retained in the competition as the official alternative to the Burke design.
HMAS Melbourne
Three ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Melbourne, for Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria and second largest city in Australia....
be purchased, to improve the RAN's capabilities and keep Australian dockyards and naval engineers employed.
In May 2006, the AWD program went to a competitive selection process, with the Spanish F100. Media reports in March 2007 indicated that the F100 bid was "ahead on price, risk and scheduled delivery when compared with the evolved design offered by Gibbs & Cox", though the head of the RAN, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders
Russ Shalders
Vice Admiral Russell Edward Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN is a retired admiral of the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force from 2002 to 2005, and as Chief of Navy from 2005 to 2008.-Service history:...
, stated that he believed that the modified Arleigh Burke design would provide the RAN with a greater long-term capability. Further reports in April stated that the tender assessment conducted by the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
had concluded that the F100 proposal was superior to the Gibbs & Cox proposal "on all the key criteria", with the Spanish design being significantly cheaper and lower-risk than the American design. The Australian Cabinet's National Security Committee announced their final decision on the design and the number of ships to be ordered on 20 June 2007, selecting the F100 design.
Comparative statistics
An article in the February 2007 edition of Australian Defence Magazine provided the following statistics on the two competing designs.| F100 | Evolved Burke class | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 146.7 m (481.3 ft) | 148 m (485.6 ft) |
| Beam | 18.6 m (61 ft) | 21.3 m (69.9 ft) |
| Displacement (ton Ton The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from... s) |
5,800 | 8,100 |
| Maximum speed | Approx. 29 kn (15.8 m/s) | Approx. 29 kn (15.8 m/s) |
| Range | 4800 nmi (8,889.6 km) at 18 kn (9.8 m/s) | 5500 nmi (10,186 km) at 18 kn (9.8 m/s) |
| Complement | 180 | 220 |
| Primary combat system | Aegis | Aegis |
| Vertical launch cells | 48 | 64 |
| Fire control channels | 2 | 3 |
| Harpoon missiles | 8 | 8 |
| Torpedoes | 6 | 6 |
| Medium gun | 1 x 127 mm (5 in) automatic | 1 x 127 mm (5 in) automatic |
| Close in weapons | 1 | 2 |
| Helicopters | 1 x Seahawk | 2 x Seahawk/NH-90 |
Construction
The vessels will be built by the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) ShipbuildingAustralian Submarine Corporation
The ASC, formerly Australian Submarine Corporation, is a wholly government-owned Australian naval defence company headquartered at Osborne in Adelaide, South Australia.-History:...
, at Osborne, South Australia
Osborne, South Australia
Osborne is a north-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 19 km from the CBD, in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is on the LeFevre Peninsula, adjacent to Outer Harbor, Taperoo and North Haven...
. The AWD Alliance originally subcontracted 70% of construction of the destroyers to NQEA and the FORGACS Group. However, on 29 June 2009, the work allocated to NQEA was transferred to BAE Systems Australia
BAE Systems Australia
BAE Systems Australia, a subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, is the largest defence contractor in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holdings in 2007 and Tenix Defence in June 2008.-History:BAE Systems'...
due to the former being unable to meet its financial obligations to the project.
The ships will feature the Aegis radar and fire control system
Aegis combat system
The Aegis Combat System is an integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin...
, with integration of Aegis undertaken by Raytheon Australia and the Defence Materiel Organisation
Defence Materiel Organisation
The Defence Materiel Organisation is the Australian Government agency responsible for the acquisition, through-life support and disposal of equipment for the Australian Defence Force...
. Hobart is scheduled to be delivered in October 2013, Brisbane in 2015, and Sydney in 2017. The project cost is estimated at "at least" A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
8 billion, according to press reports, though it is not clear what items are included in the figure.
Each destroyer will be made up of 31 pre-fabricated 'blocks', averaging 200 tonne in weight and with average dimensions of 15 by. In April 2010, the Australian Department of Defence announced that "full production of hull blocks [for the Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers had] commenced at three shipyards: ASC in Adelaide, BAE Systems in Melbourne and Forgacs in Newcastle." ASC was responsible for the ships' forward superstructures (27 blocks total), Forgacs for fabricating the rest of the superstructure (30 blocks), and BAE for the ships' hulls (36 blocks). However, in October, it was found that the 20 by central keel block manufactured by BAE for Hobart had distorted, making it incompatible with other hull sections. The cause of the fabrication errors is unknown: BAE blame incorrect drawings
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
from Navantia, the designer, while the AWD Alliance claim the other two shipyards have not experienced similar problems, and believe the cause is first-of-kind manufacturing errors by BAE. The delay in reworking the keel block was predicted to set construction back by six months. In late May 2011, the government announced that the delay in building Hobart had increased to between one and two years, and would attempt to reduce the workload on BAE (which is also responsible for superstructure work on the Canberra class amphibious ships) by redistributing 13 hull blocks for the first two ships to the other two shipyards. In addition, the three blocks containing each destroyer's hull mounted sonar are being assembed by Navantia in Spain and the United Kingdom, with possibly another two hull blocks to be assigned to the Spanish shipyard.
Ship
The AWD will displace approximately 7,000 tonnes, with a crew complement of approximately 180 with accomdation for 234.The ships' armament will most likely be similar to current Aegis vessels in service and under construction. There will be a Mark 41 Vertical Launch System
Mark 41 Vertical Launch System
The Mark 41 Vertical Launch System is a shipborne missle canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System concept was derived from work on the Aegis Combat System. Refinement of the concept continued through the 1960s and...
, with 48 cells, which will be capable of firing SM-2
RIM-66 Standard
The RIM-66 Standard MR is a medium range surface-to-air missile originally developed for the United States Navy . The SM-1 was developed as a replacement for the RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar that were deployed in the 1950s on a variety of USN ships...
surface to air missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow point defence missiles and Tomahawk
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
surface-to-surface missiles. According to the 2009 Defence White Paper
Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030
Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 is an Australian Government white paper released on 2 May 2009. The publication seeks to provide guidance for Australia's defence policy and the Australian Defence Force during the period 2009–2030.-Background:In 2000, the then Coalition...
the ships will carry the SM6
SM-6 Standard ERAM
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile , or Standard Missile 6 is a missile that has just gone into production for the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Navy...
surface-to-air missile as well as Cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
s able to strike at a distance of over 400 kilometres (248.5 mi). The Mark 41 VLS is currently fitted to the Anzac class
Anzac class frigate
The Anzac class is a ship class of ten frigates; eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy...
and Adelaide class
Adelaide class frigate
The Adelaide class is a ship class of six guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. The class is based on the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, but modified for Australian requirements...
. In addition, it is likely that the ships will be fitted with the Harpoon anti-ship missile using its standard box launcher. As with all modern warships, a medium calibre gun (most likely 5-inch/127mm) will be fitted; there is no confirmation yet as to any additional gun armament, in the form of either a CIWS or other anti-aircraft armament. However, given that most ships of similar type have at least one CIWS emplacement fitted, it can be presumed that these ships will also. The ships will also be 'future proofed'
Future proof
The phrase future proofing describes the exclusive process of trying to anticipate future developments, so that action can be taken to minimize possible negative consequences, and to seize opportunities. For more on the process and practitioners, see Futures studies.-Data storage:Electronically...
, in that they will have space available for new weapons developments that may come about in the future. There will be a flight deck and hangar capable of operating both helicopters and UAVs
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
, while there will also be sufficient space for detachments of combat troops and special forces.
In November 2006, the Australian Government commissioned research on whether the AWDs should be equipped with anti-ballistic missile
Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
capabilities.
On 4 May 2009, the AWD Alliance has announced that it has signed a further two contracts for provision of elements of the combat system for Australia's three Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers. The Alliance has signed a contract worth $40 million with Raytheon Missile Systems, USA for the provision of the Very Short Range Defence-Air capability based on Phalanx Block 1B Close in Weapons System (CIWS) and with Adelaide based Babcock Strachan and Henshaw Australia for the Mark 32 Mod9 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes (SVTT) worth $10 million.
Sensors and combat systems
Although described as an "air warfare destroyer", with air defence as its primary role, the Aegis combat systemAegis combat system
The Aegis Combat System is an integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin...
is a multi-role system capable of engaging air, surface and undersea targets. As a consequence, the AWD is much more of a multi-role vessel than its Perth class predecessor. In addition to Aegis, it will have underwater sensors, which may include mine and obstacle avoidance sonar. Because of the capabilities provided, AWD will have the ability to serve as a Task Group flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
.
Australia has begun to acquire various weapons and technological equipment for this destroyer which will enable it to participate in the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, an effort by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other nations to create a ship-based missile defense
Missile defense
Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. Originally conceived as a defence against nuclear-armed Intercontinental ballistic missiles , its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged...
against ballistic missiles. The selection of the electronic warfare systems from ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
and the Southwest Research Institute
Southwest Research Institute
Southwest Research Institute , headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States...
was announced by the Australian Department of Defence on 14 April 2010.
Ships
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DDGH 39 | ASC Australian Submarine Corporation The ASC, formerly Australian Submarine Corporation, is a wholly government-owned Australian naval defence company headquartered at Osborne in Adelaide, South Australia.-History:... |
October 2013 | 2014 | Building | |
| DDGH 41 | 2015 | 2016 | Planned | ||
| DDGH 42 | 2017 | 2018 | Planned |
See also
- Type 45 destroyerType 45 destroyerThe United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships...
- De Zeven Provinciën class frigateDe Zeven Provinciën class frigateThe De Zeven Provinciën class frigates are highly advanced air-defence and command frigates in service with the Koninklijke Marine . This class of ships is also known as LCF...
- Sachsen class frigateSachsen class frigateThe F124 Sachsen class is Germany's latest class of highly advanced air-defense frigates. The design of the Sachsen class frigate is based on that of the F123 Brandenburg class but with enhanced stealth features intended to deceive any opponent's radar and acoustic sensors and incorporate also the...
External links
- Defence Material Organisation – SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer
- Raytheon Australia
- Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance
- Release of Gibbs&Cox Evolved design
- Announcement of the selection of the F100 design
- Mark Uhlmann ‘A great day for Navy’ in Navy News. Volume 50, No. 11, 28 June 2007.
- Andrew Davies (2007). The Air Warfare Destroyer project – Decision time. Australian Strategic Policy InstituteAustralian Strategic Policy InstituteThe Australian Strategic Policy Institute is an Australian Government-funded think tank that was established in 2001. ASPI's role is to develop ideas on Australia's defence and strategic policy options and help inform the public on defence and strategic policy issues...
, Canberra. - Hugh White (2005) Buying Air Warfare Destroyers: A Strategic Decision. Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney.
- Leo Lazauskas (2007) The hydrodynamic resistance, wave wakes and bottom pressure signatures of a 5900t displacement air warfare destroyer. Dept. Applied Mathematics Report, The University of Adelaide, July 2007.