After ANZAC: RAN nears decision on SEA 5000 Future Frigate design

摘要

The design selected for the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) next generation of major surface combatants should be announced no later than April 2018 - possibly sooner, and construction of the first of nine future frigates is slated to begin two years later. Questions remain about the implementation of this tight schedule, given that the build phase was accelerated by three years in 2015 by then-prime minister Tony Abbott to save shipbuilding jobs in South Australia. Nevertheless, the intent of the AUD35billion (USD25.5 billion) SEA 5000 programme is clear: to produce nine Australian-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates with additional capabilities ranging from constabulary operations to task group-orientated warfighting.