Saturday, 19 December 2020

Australia's Three Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers Exercise Together for First Time

Peter Beeh



December 14, 2020  


The three Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers, HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41) and HMAS Sydney (DDG 42), have exercised together for the first time, the service announced.

The destroyers, which are the Navy’s most advanced ships, also operated with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to develop air-sea integration.

Commanding Officer HMAS Hobart, Captain Ryan Gaskin, said the exercise confirmed the lethality of Australia’s Destroyers, their advanced capabilities and the superior skills of the ships’ crews.

“We have demonstrated through this exercise that our platforms and people are ready to respond to a more complex and contested maritime domain,” Captain Gaskin said. “The Aegis Combat System provides the Destroyers with advanced layered offensive and defensive capabilities to counter conventional and asymmetrical threats, while our people provide the expert knowledge that increases our systems’ lethality.”

Commanding Officer HMAS Brisbane, Commander Aaron Cox, said integrating RAAF advanced platforms into the exercise was “a critical milestone in progressing maritime and air combat capabilities that will strengthen our partnerships with regional and allied nations”.

“We are continuing to work with the other Services to update, test and trial how we lead the business of defensive and combat effectiveness in our region.”

During the exercise, Hobart and Brisbane each fired a Standard Missile 2 (SM-2). Noting the importance of the capability demonstration, the Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price embarked in the ships to watch the firings.

RAN Air Warfare Destroyers
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN)’s Air Warfare Destroyers, also called Hobart-class destroyers after the lead vessel of the class, replaced the service’s Adelaide-class frigates and restore the capability last exhibited by the Perth-class destroyers.

The ships are based on Navantia F100 Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates deployed by the Spanish Navy. They are equipped with the Aegis Combat System (ACS), which integrates with the long-range AN/SPY1 passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar to detect, track, and engage aerial targets. The new destroyers are the first in the RAN to carry the Aegis system.

The destroyers are equipped with the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) capable of firing RIM-66 Standard 2 (SM-2) surface-to-air missiles (SAM) or quad-packed RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile (ESSM) for air defense role and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations. The missiles are supplemented by two quad-packed Harpoon anti-ship missiles (AShM) in canister launchers and a BAE Mark 45 (Mod 4) 5-inch 62-caliber gun with a range of 23.6 km (14.7 mi).

Two Babcock Mark 32 Mod 9 two-tube torpedo launchers are used to launch Eurotorp MU90 torpedoes for ASW missions. For close-in defense, the ships carry one aft-facing Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) and two M242 Bushmaster guns in bridge wing Typhoon mounts.

The destroyers carry a single MH-60R Seahawk “Romeo” helicopter and two rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs). The standard ship’s company is 186-strong, plus 16 additional personnel to operate and maintain the ship’s helicopter, with maximum accommodation for 234.


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