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  • New Austrailian DDG

    raham Davis and Kade Rogers

    Defence’s exciting plan to acquire three new Air Warfare Destroyers is running full speed ahead. Recent ministerial announcements have seen the project leap forward.

    The RAN announced during September’s Navy Symposium that ship designers in Spain, the US and Germany had been asked to provide concept designs for the three ships, due for submission in November.

    The AWD program manager Mr Warren King from the Defence Materiel Organisation understands the significance of the project “This is an extremely important project which has full government support and will be of high value to the ADF,” Mr King said CAPT Steve Gilmore, Director Maritime Combat Development, delivered his ‘Enhanced and Future Fleet Projects’ address at the recent symposium in which detailed the invitation to the three overseas ship designers Izar (Spain) Blohm and Voss (Germany) and Gibbs and Cox (US), to provide concept designs for the new AWD platform.

    “These companies specialize in warship design, are highly competent, we expect them to offer us some very interesting concept solutions towards the end of this year,” Mr King said.

    It is planned to put the first AWD into service in the RAN in 2013.

    On October 16, Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill said that Australian shipbuilders commence bidding for the AWD project, estimated to be worth between $4.5 and $6 billion.

    Senator Hill described the AWD project as “one of Australia’s largest and most complex defence projects”.

    A Request for Proposal (RFP) was released on October 18.

    Defence had developed proposal documents for the project in consultation with independent commercial adviser Carnegie Wylie and Company.

    The Request for Proposal for construction of the AWD’s will remain open for about nine weeks.

    Defence will evaluate proposal responses with the Government to receive a recommendation on the preferred shipbuilder in early 2005.

    The Minister said proposals are being sought on an alliance-style contract basis with the vessels to be built in Australia. Among the criteria will be:

    A commitment to the principles of a longterm risk sharing arrangement with the Commonwealth and other industry partners for the construction of the AWD’s,
    A cost, overhead and pricing structure that will enable the cost effective delivery of the AWD’s, including the ability to build designs considering ‘whole of life’ costs,
    A sound record of past performance in building naval vessels,
    Access to the skilled workforce required in producing ships to the Commonwealth’s requirements,
    Willingness to provide open financial accounting data, including visibility from the sub-contractor level to the Commonwealth,
    Capacity to provide the Commonwealth with transparency and contractual influence over major sub-contractors and
    Capacity to access sensitive technology required for the AWD project.
    Companies bidding for the AWDs will be required to include Australian skills and training programs in their responses, with Defence to fund companies for extra skills generation and training benefits in the programs.

    Mr King said, “These will be the most modern destroyers in the world.”

    “They will be fitted with the most advanced equipment, the latest machinery and from my own military experience I would think that today’s sailors will love them.

    I wish I was 20 years old again.”

    The AWD program provides a massive opportunity for Australian industry to participate at both the prime and sub-contractor level.

    The program will also create new Australian jobs and skills and strengthen Australia’s strategic industrial base.

  • #2
    nice

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    • #3
      "On October 16, Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill said that Australian shipbuilders commence bidding for the AWD project, estimated to be worth between $4.5 and $6 billion. "

      Rick, do you think that getting 3 Air Warfare Destroyers, for between AUS$1.5b and 2b each, sounds reasonable? Would that include all the armament etc. purchased and installed or is it for the platform to be added onto at further expense?

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      • #4
        Sounds reasonable to me. I dont think the Program will be like the MEKO 200 program built with the intention of adding sensors and weapons later.

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        • #5
          The contract to build the AWD's was recently awarded to ASC in Adelaide, an announcement on the winning ship design is expected by the end of this month.

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          • #6
            Great news but its a damn shame Adelaide, not Melbourne, got the contract.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by rickusn
              Mr King said, “These will be the most modern destroyers in the world.” “They will be fitted with the most advanced equipment, the latest machinery and from my own military experience I would think that today’s sailors will love them.
              Any word on hot tubs and wet bars for the crews? Now that's what I call modern and advanced equipment

              Originally posted by rickusn
              The program will also create new Australian jobs and skills and strengthen Australia’s strategic industrial base.
              On a little more serious note, that's a darn good thing for the Aussies. :)
              “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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              • #8
                Since Adelaide won the construction bidding, I wonder whether Adelaide has a large enough building drydock in place. If they are going to have to construct a larger building drydock, what size should they build? Is the answer just large enough to build the destroyers?

                Which brings us back to the Spanish or French LHD. I know of only two drydocks in Austalia large enough to build the LHD in Australia, and both have numerous civilian and military business. Are the Australians going to purchase the LHD from abroad, or are they going to build it in Australia. If so, where? If they decide to build the LHD in Australia, the government will be spending for another much larger building dock on top of the one they are having to build in Adelaide for the AWDs.

                Can the Australlian government afford such waste? You would have thought by now the commerical ship builders in Australia were building larger commerical vessels already....

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                • #9
                  They got it because there are a lot of South Australians in important positions in the governing Coalition, and there aren't that many Victorians to match their influence. It is a waste of money to go the trouble of building them in Adelaide but there's nothing to be done now.
                  And I still wish we'd ordered a fourth ship.

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                  • #10
                    Three is a good number, it will be enough to sustain one ship abroad forever. While I would like larger numbers, say up to six, its a good idea with these expensive programs to buy in two groups around 12-15 years apart, so there won't be any block obsolescent. Frankly, I wondered why Australia has waited so long to replace the Adams class DDGs. These ships should have been purchased ten years ago.

                    I know, you were building Anzac class frigates, eight for Australia and two for New Zealand. A government shouldn't allow itself to be placed in such a situation, block obsolescent, having to replace six River class frigates and three Adams class destroyers built in the 1960s at the same time.

                    Australia used to have six destroyers, 3 Darings and 3 Adams, with 6 Rivers.... 12 ships. It seems in the future there will be 3 new DDGs, and 8 Anzacs... 11 ships. The new capabilities of the new ships, plus the Anzac class upgrades, easily outweights the loss of one ship in the inventory....

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