Program Information

The Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Program is about the timely and efficient delivery of an affordable, effective, flexible and sustainable air warfare destroyer capability for the security of Australia.

In 2003, the Kinnaird Review established the need for Australia to have a more effective system to assess, acquire and maintain defence capability due to growing uncertainty in the international security environment.

One of the recommendations from the review stipulated that all new major defence procurement programs were required to submit at least two options to the Commonwealth Government for review.

For Second Pass approval, the Commonwealth Government considered an Evolved Design by United States firm Gibbs & Cox and an Existing Design by Spanish firm Navantia.  In June 2007 the Government announced Navantia's Existing Design as its chosen platform for the AWD Program.

Navantia F100 air warfare destroyer

Navantia's design for the AWD Program is based on its F100 frigate already in service with the Spanish Navy.  It is a baseline design that requires minimal modifications for Australian use, with the following characteristics:

 

For the Build Phase of the AWD Program, ASC will enter into an Alliance-based contracting strategy.  Under the AWD Alliance, we will work together with our Alliance partners, the Defence Materiel Organisation and Raytheon Australia, to deliver the AWD capability to the Royal Australian Navy.  Navantia will be a subcontractor to the Commonwealth.

 

The first AWD is scheduled to be delivered in late 2014, followed by the second and third ships in early-2016 and mid-2017 respectively.

 

The Government announced in January 2006 that the three AWDs will be named HMAS Hobart, HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Sydney.