RAN’s Second Air Warfare Destroyer to Enter Service in Late October

18 September 2018

Brisbane, the second of the RAN’s three Hobart-class AWDs, is set to enter service on 27 October. (photo : Aus DoD

The second of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers (AWDs) will enter service on 27 October, Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne has announced.

The announcement was made as NUSHIP Brisbane (with pennant number 41) arrived for the first time at its home base of Fleet Base East – at Sydney’s Garden Island – on 10 September.

The move comes after the 146.7 m-long ship, which began builder’s sea trials in November 2017, was officially handed over to the RAN on 27 July.

Australia’s first AWD, HMAS Hobart , was accepted and commissioned into service in 2017, while the third ship, Sydney , was launched at Osborne in May and is set to be handed over to the RAN in December 2019 following sea trials.

The RAN’s Adelaide-class (US Oliver Hazard Perry design) frigates, of which only two remain in service, are being retired to make way for the Hobart-class AWDs, which provide the service with an improved warfighting capability.

Based on Navantia’s F-100 Alvaro de Bazan-class frigate design (with a number of Australian-specific modifications), the Hobart class deploys the Aegis combat system incorporating the AN/SPY 1D(V) phased array radar.

(Jane's)