Navy’s surface fleet review includes armed ‘drone’ ships and more frigates in $54b fleet refresh
A fleet of lethal and “optionally crewed” warships will be added to Australia’s defence capabilities to counter the threat posed by China.
The Federal Government released its surface fleet review on Tuesday with the independent report making 18 recommendations on which projects should be added, cut and downsized to deliver a bigger and faster shipbuilding program.
The nation’s warships will be increasing from 11 to 26 by the mid-to-late-2040s, which will cost $54 billion over the next 10 years — $11.1 billion more than originally thought.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Tuesday’s announcement will establish the Henderson naval precinct in Perth as the primary location for designing, building and sustaining vessels for the Australian Defence Force.
The report has recommended eight new frigates be built at Henderson to replace the ageing Anzac-class fleet. Four models from international defence companies that are in the water right now are being considered.
These include Germany’s Meko, Japan’s Mogami, South Korea’s Daegu and Spain’s Navantia.
The frigate model will be chosen next year.
But the Government says the Henderson precinct is not yet equipped to make the frigates, so it will require the first three to be built overseas “to achieve the scale and complexity of this build”.
They will all be in service by 2034.
The Hunter-Class frigates program — which was originally chosen to replace the Anzac-class fleet — in South Australia will be cut from nine to six ships.
The workforce in SA will jump to at least 2500 over the next decade, with 2000 jobs to be ongoing and about 500 more created.
There is also an intent to build six large drone-like vessels in WA that can operate without sailors on board and be heavily armed with missiles.
The report says they will be “to enhance the lethality and survivability of the joint integrated force, with this modern technology also reducing the crewing requirement for the Navy”.
German shipbuilder Luerssen’s contract to build Arafura-Class offshore patrol vessels will be reduced from 12 to six. This work is already happening at Henderson, with six of the boats currently under construction.
The new projects in WA will create at least 1200 new local jobs over the next 10 years.
Originally published as Surface fleet review: Henderson naval precinct to be primary location for building ADF warships
