by Joseph Trevithick
February 20, 2024
Introduction:
Additional extract:(The Drive) Australian authorities want to acquire a new class of six optionally-crewed ships for the country's navy as part of a cooperative effort with the U.S. Navy. The plan is for these vessels, each of which will have 32 vertical launch system cells, to provide additional distributed magazine depth at a lower cost to bolster the capabilities of the country's larger surface combatants. This is part of broader plan to transform and roughly double the size of the Royal Australian Navy's major surface combatant fleets by the 2040s that also includes the acquisition of up to 11 new general purpose frigates.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government released an unclassified summary of the new overall plan for the Royal Australian Navy's surface fleets, which is the product of an independent analysis that builds out from the 2023 Defense Strategic Review (DSR), yesterday. In addition to the planned acquisition of the six optionally-crewed ships and between seven and 11 general purpose frigates, the review also calls for trimming back the planned fleet of new Hunter class frigates from nine to six ships, a cut to Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) procurement from 12 to six ships, and the acquisition of additional small patrol boats.
A major planned upgrade and life extension program for the Royal Australian Navy's existing Anzac class frigates is also now set to be axed, though some of those ships are still set to receive enhanced maritime strike capabilities.
The inclusion of the six optionally-crewed vessels in the new Royal Australian Navy fleet plan is particularly eye-catching as this is a type of ship not in any way in service in the country, or anywhere else in the world currently.
Read more here: https://www.twz.com/sea/australia-to-b ... warshipsThe United States and Australia, as well as the United Kingdom, are of course very actively cooperating on a host of defense and security issues through the trilateral AUKUS agreement. This includes plans to assist the Royal Australian Navy in its acquisition of new fleets of nuclear-powered attack submarines, starting first with U.S.-made Virginia class types and then moving on to examples of a new design.
