Australia’s new frigates will have the capability to shoot down long-range missiles including those from rogue states such as North Korea.
‘We must have the capability to meet and defeat them,’ Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Pacific 17 maritime and naval showcase in Sydney on Tuesday.
Mr Turnbull said Australia needed the best ships that could deal ‘effectively both over and under the water’ in preparation of a ‘complex threat environment’.
Malcolm Turnbull said Australia needed the best ships that can deal ‘effectively both over and under the water’ in preparation of a ‘complex threat environment’ (NUSHIP Hobart III pictured)
Australia’s new frigates will have the capability to shoot down long-range missiles including those from rogue states such as North Korea according to Mr Turnbull (pictured Tuesday)
‘We must have the capability to meet and defeat them,’ Malcolm Turnbull told the Pacific 17 maritime and naval showcase in Sydney (Hobart Class Guided Missile Destroyer pictured)
‘The defense of our nation on the high seas [is] stronger than ever at every level and in every field, whether it is defending Australia from regional or global threats,’ he said.
Under the plan, a fleet on nine Future Frigates will be provided by Aegis Combat Management System and will be developed by SAAB Australia.
Previously, tenders for combat management systems were requested for individual ships but now the government is moving to a bulk order.
‘That approach was short-sighted and we consider it no longer in the national interest,’ Mr Turnbull said.
Navy chief Tim Barrett said the decision meant sailors would only have to deal with one standard system.
Three shipbuilders are in the running for the $30 billion Future Frigate program – the UK’s BAE Systems with its Type 26, Fincantieri of Italy with its FREMM and Navantia of Spain with an updated F100.
The Prime Minister said they requested combat management systems for individual ships, but that was now ‘short sighted’ after the threats from the rogue nation
Under the plan, the ships will use a Lockheed Martin Aegis combat management system with an Australian tactical interface from SAAB Australia for defense against rogue nations
The winner will be announced in 2018.
The new war ships will replace the Anzac frigates from the mid-2020s, in a project that will create more than 2000 jobs.
Production is scheduled to start from 2020 at the federal government-owned shipyard in Osborne South Australia.