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| Spanish F-100; Base design for the Hobart Class AWD |
Hull consolidation for the first of three Air Warfare Destroyers is nearly complete with just seven remaining blocks out of 31 to be joined to the ship’s structure.
Speaking at the Pacific 2013 International Maritime Conference and Expo in Sydney, CEO of the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Alliance Rod Equid said the largest defence procurement project in Australia is on track and progressing well.
“The final seven blocks will be lifted and joined to the ship’s structure over the coming three months,” Mr Equid said. “Overall block production and fit-out of the first destroyer, Hobart, is well advanced. It is great to see the first destroyer taking shape in Adelaide with the complex Aegis tower successfully lifted onto the ship structure last week.
“We are delighted with the progress of Hobart over the past 12 months. All sub-contracted blocks constructed by BAE Systems, Forgacs Engineering and Navantia for Ship 1 have arrived at the ASC Shipyard in Adelaide and warehouses are full of equipment in readiness for load out. Hull consolidation is expected to be complete by early next year, followed by the launch of Hobart in the second half of next year with the Combat System activated by the end of 2014.”
Mr Equid said there considerable internal fitout underway including installing the winch for the towed array, the water coolers, diesel generators, main engines, gearboxes as well as equipment to support the combat system. A team, including contractors from Tasmanian company Taylor Bros, is working on the interior compartments of the ship to fit and install the accommodation equipment including cabin modules, on-board furniture, galley, pantry, refrigerated spaces and laundry equipment.
There is good progress on the second destroyer, Brisbane, with the keel laying ceremony planned for February next year. The keel blocks for Brisbane have arrived from Navantia in Spain in a high state of fitout ready for consolidation.
The combat system team is progressing well with almost all equipment items in-country and load out and installation activities started. The project is on track against the re-baselined schedule, with ship deliveries planned for March 2016, September 2017 and March 2019.
The destroyers are being built for Australia’s specific defence needs and will provide a significant increase in Australia’s defence capabilities. The warships will be a highly capable asset able to assume a leading command and control role with both the Australian Defence Force and Coalition forces.
Mr Equid said the AWDs’ functional and structural design is complete which is based on the proven Spanish F100 platform. “Platform system designer Navantia is integrated within the AWD Alliance team in Adelaide.
A resident team is working in close cooperation with the Alliance and is having an enormous benefit to the project by providing hands-on advice and expertise in Australia. Navantia has also provided good reach back to their experienced workforce in Spain which has been building ships for more than 250 years.
The AWD Alliance is currently operating at the peak of our workforce profile for the project. The Alliance workforce is made up of about 1,860 people from ASC, Raytheon, the Department of Defence and Navantia. In total there are about 2,710 people working directly on the project throughout Australia, including a national AWD shipyard production workforce of about 1,860 people.
The Alliance is made up of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) representing the Australian Government, ASC as the lead shipbuilder and Raytheon Australia as the mission systems integrator.