RAN to get new destroyers

Australia?s Federal Government will sign a contract with Spanish designer Navantia, Adelaide-based shipbuilder ASC and systems engineer Raytheon by mid-September, for the construction of three 6,000-tonne air warfare destroyers for the Royal Australian Navy. The new vessels will be customised versions of the Navantia F-100 warship with an extra helicopter capability.

The $8.1 billion three-warship project will guarantee a ship-building skills base for Australia in Adelaide well beyond 2020. Already the largest defence contract of its type in Australia’s history, there are plans to order a fourth vessel in the series at an extra cost of $1.3 billion.

The government is keen to make the state-owned ASC yard at Osborne a national centre for shipbuilding excellence. ASC, which now has billions of dollars worth of work on its books, is due to be sold during the next year.

By the time the fourth vessel is launched in about 2018 a decision would have been taken about the “Son of Collins” replacement submarine project and a new ship to replace the ANZAC frigates. The defence minister has already hinted the yard would be in-line for the new submarine contract.

The first destroyer, equipped with the state-of-the-art US-built Aegis combat system, is due to be launched in 2013 followed by two others at two-year intervals.