Australia’s New Class of Guided Missile Destroyers

2020 will see the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) deploy three new guided missile destroyers as part of its Surface Combatant Program. The so-called Hobart-class of air warfare destroyers (AWDs) consists of the HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41), and the future HMAS Sydney (DDG 42).

The three surface combatants are replacing the Navy’s older Adelaide-class (U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry design) guided-missile frigates, the last of which was decommissioned in November 2019.

The Hobart-class is based on the Navantia-designed Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate (aka F-100) currently in service with the Spanish Navy but includes several Australia-specific modifications.

The future HMAS Sydney will be the third and final ship of the 7,000-ton Hobart-class and is expected to be commissioned next month. The first-of-class HMAS Hobart was commissioned in September 2017, while the HMAS Brisbane entered service in October 2018.

Hobart-class AWDs are multi-mission warships equipped with surface-launched MU90 and Mk54 light-weight torpedoes for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions and over-the-horizon Harpoon anti-ship missiles, in addition to carrying the MH-60R helicopter (fitted with an AN/AQS-22 low-frequency dipping sonar) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Furthermore, the ships are armed with a 127-millimeter gun, a Phalanx close-in weapon system, and two 25 mm Typhoon guns.

Each ship has an overall length of 146.7 meters, an overall beam of 18.6 meters, and a hull draught of 4.9 meters. At 18 knots, Hobart-class AWDs have an operational range of around 5,000 nautical miles.

The new class of warships is notable for two reasons.

First, the Hobart-class is the first class of RAN surface combatants to be built around the U.S. Aegis combat system incorporating the AN/SPY-1D(V) phased array radar.

Second, the AWDs are also the first warships outside the U.S. Navy to deploy a so-called cooperative engagement capability (CEC).

The AN/SPY-1D(V), next to a fire control system and decision suite, is the core of the Aegis combat system. It is a passive, automatic detect and track, multifunction phased-array radar system used for detecting and tracking up to 100 targets at a time.

According to open source intelligence, the radar system has an operational range of 310 kilometers and can be used for targeting and intercepting aircraft, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. However, the Aegis combat system installed aboard the Hobart-class will not have a ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability.

The AN/SPY-1D(V) is paired with the Hobart-class’ U.S.-designed 48-cell MK-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), capable of firing surface-to-air standard missiles (SMs) including medium-range Block IIIA (SM-2MR Block IIIA) and SM-2MR Block IIIB long-range surface-to-air missiles, next to the medium-range RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles Block I.

The Surface Combatant Program, which in addition to the Hobart class includes the construction of nine Hunter (Type 26)-class frigates, has suffered from repeated delays right from its inception, which made the initial version of the Aegis combat system purchased by the Australian government already outdated by the time the HMAS Hobart was commissioned in 2017.

As a result, the Aegis combat system currently installed on all three ships already needs to be upgraded. (U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin began first testing and integrating the Aegis combat system on the first-of-class HMAS Hobart in March 2016.)

The three ships will now be upgraded with the Aegis MK 6 Mod 1configuration, according to a U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announcement from January 15, as part of a larger $1.5 billion Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Australia.

Total acquisition costs for the Hobart class is estimated at over $8 billion, making the destroyers Australia’s most expensive platforms to date. Half of that amount is earmarked for major upgrades following the surface combattants’ commissioning.

CEC enables each warship to act as part of a wider grid of sensor and weapon platforms that allows CEC-equipped vessels to share surveillance and targeting information.

“CEC interfaces with the Aegis combat system and enhances its early detection capability,” I wrote previously. “It is a new wide-area integrated air defense system that allows the real-time sharing of sensor data on air targets, including incoming enemy aircraft and cruise missiles between CEC-equipped destroyers.”

The HMAS Brisbane successfully conducted a CEC live missile engagement exercise with the U.S. Navy in October 2019.

Notably, to test Aegis combat system upgrades, the HMAS Hobart fired a SM-2 missile against an aerial target in August 2019.

“HMAS Hobart is the most sophisticated and lethal warship ever operated by the Royal Australian Navy, and this missile firing is a demonstration of how she can fight and win at sea,” Australian Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds said at the time.

The Hobart-class program is overseen by the AWD Alliance, a consortium that coordinates the work of Spanish ship maker Navantia, the Australian shipbuilder ASC, mission systems integrator Raytheon Australia, U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, and the Australian Department of Defense.

The HMAS Hobart deployed for the first time in September 2019 as part of a nine-ship RAN task group.

“From high end warfare exercises, port visits as well as cultural engagements, this major deployment demonstrates again Australia’s long-standing commitment to our partners and regional security,” said Reynolds in a September 2019 statement.

The new AWDs will be instrumental in forming the core of the RAN’s so-called maritime task group (MTG) concept, which has been designed to integrate the service’s ships in units that are focused on high-end combat operations.

The Hobart class’ CEC is also an important component of the Australian Defense Force’s Joint Integrated Fires Capability, which aims to integrate data from platforms across all three military services.