Australia proceeds with AWD and amphibious ships

摘要

Towards the end of June, the Commonwealth of Australia announced that the Royal Australian Navy's Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) will be built to an Australianised version of the Navantia F-100 design, rather than the Gibbs & Cox Evolved design, and also announced that Tenix had been identified as the preferred supplier for the A$3 billion Amphibious Ships programme. At a cost of nearly A$8 billion, and subject to successful contract negotiations, Navantia will work with the AWD Alliance (which consists of the Defence Materiel Organisation, ASC, and Raytheon Australia) to deliver three AWDs to the Royal Australian Navy. The first of the Air Warfare Destroyers will be delivered in late 2014, followed by the second and third ships in early-2016 and mid-2017 respectively.