{"id":110384,"date":"2026-08-25T06:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/110384\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T06:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:08:10","slug":"australia-lays-keel-for-first-frigate-eight-years-after-design-was-selected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/110384\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia lays keel for first frigate, eight years after design was selected"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BAE Systems Australia laid the keel for the first Hunter-class frigate at Osborne Naval Shipyard on 24 August 2026. (ADF)<\/p>\n

BAE Systems Australia formally laid the keel for the first Hunter-class frigate on 24 August 2026. The ceremony took place at Osborne Naval Shipyard near Adelaide in South Australia, coming eight years after the platform was selected in June 2018.<\/p>\n

Two ship blocks, which form part of the keel, were displayed, and they will soon be joined by others as this first anti-submarine warfare frigate for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) takes shape. Each frigate comprises 78 units that contribute to 22 blocks. Currently, 22 structural blocks are under construction.<\/p>\n

David Shepherd, Managing Director of BAE Systems Australia \u2013 Surface Ships, said: \u201cWhile today we have physically laid the keel of the first Hunter-class frigate, the Hunter programme itself has laid the foundations of a continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment capability in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction commenced on 21 June 2024 with first steel being cut. A production contract for the initial three frigates had been signed the previous day, six years after BAE Systems Australia was awarded Project Sea 5000.<\/p>\n

A BAE Systems Australia spokesperson explained to Asian Military Review why the first production contract covered just three warships: \u201cThe intent of structuring the contract for multiple batches of three vessels was to allow for any further changes to the design if additional capabilities were to be incorporated.\u201d Furthermore, it permits Australian suppliers \u2013 if they missed out on contracts for the first batch \u2013 to compete in the second round.<\/p>\n

\"BAE<\/a>A bird\u2019s-eye view of the Hunter-class frigate, with the mast-mounted CEAFAR 2 radar a major distinguishing feature. (BAE Systems Australia)<\/p>\n

Defence Minister Richard Marles added: \u201cThe laying of the keel for the first Hunter-class frigate demonstrates tangible progress in the delivery of a more capable, lethal and resilient surface combatant fleet for Australia. The Hunter-class frigates will provide a world-class anti-submarine warfare capability, designed to operate in complex maritime environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tangible progress, yes, but this shipbuilding project has attracted numerous criticisms over its price tag and speed.<\/p>\n

Arguments over the Hunter\u2019s value-for-money proposition will doubtlessly reverberate for years to come, and these 8,200-tonne frigates could cost around A$9 billion (US$6.45 billion) each, based on Defence\u2019s 2023-24 annual report.<\/p>\n

Of course, if Australia bought off-the-shelf frigates directly from the UK, it would have twice as many ships but no input into its sovereign shipbuilding capacity.<\/p>\n

Andy Coxall, Director Acquisition and Build at BAE Systems Maritime Australia, pointed out to AMR, \u201cThe cost for Hunter was never just about building ships \u2013 it was always about investing and rebuilding the [shipbuilding] capability. Included in Hunter costs were additional facilities costs \u2013 the shipyard, for example, where we worked with the Commonwealth to determine that there were shortfalls in the capability.\u201d He further noted, \u201cThat\u2019s the price of building an indigenous capability here and having Australians doing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Defence spokesperson concurred: \u201cAustralia\u2019s Hunter-class frigate programme budget provides for delivery of all fundamental inputs to capability, including works at the Osborne Naval Shipyard, not just the cost of the vessels.\u201d Instead, the government owns the shipyard and it will be building advanced warships for the next 50 years.<\/p>\n

Coxall asserted the RAN is \u201cbuying an enormous amount of additional capability, [and] the price was never about just building ships; it was re-establishing a capability in an area where we\u2019d lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BAE<\/a>A component of the first Hunter-class frigate for the RAN is transported to a different building for assembly. (BAE Systems Australia)<\/p>\n

The frigate\u2019s CEAFAR 2 active phased-array radar and integration of the Aegis combat management system and Saab\u2019s 9LV interface also costs money. Key to the frigate\u2019s anti-submarine capabilities is a Thales CAPTAS-4 S2087 variable-depth sonar system.<\/p>\n

Regarding the platform\u2019s growth margin, Coxall also said the Hunter \u201ccomes with enough margin to allow the navy flexibility, probably for the next 20-25 years of service \u2026 Because of the size and the margins we\u2019ve built into the ship, it\u2019s eminently upgradeable.\u201d This could include directed-energy weapons in the future, for instance.<\/p>\n

South Australia\u2019s premier claimed more than 2,500 people are working at Osborne to build these ships. Peter Malinauskas acknowledged, \u201cRecruiting the workforce for these tasks represents a massive challenge.\u201d The government\u2019s 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy promised to help defence primes like BAE Systems to grow their apprentice and trainee workforce, starting later this year.<\/p>\n

HMAS Hunter will be completed by June 2032, and commissioned in 2034. Thereafter, BAE Systems Australia will deliver frigates every two years.<\/p>\n

This Hunter construction programme will thus run for 20 years, at which time the RAN will be looking to build replacements for the in-service Hobart-class destroyers.<\/p>\n

by Gordon Arthur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAE Systems Australia laid the keel for the first Hunter-class frigate at Osborne Naval Shipyard on 24 August…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21224],"tags":[45510,45511,45512,583,45513,21234,8160,32004,45514,45515,10087,45516,45517,45518,45508,45519,45520,45521,45522,44727,36328,45523,45524,45525,45526],"class_list":["post-110384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bae","tag-aegis","tag-anti-submarine-warfare","tag-asw","tag-australia","tag-australian-defence-industry","tag-bae","tag-bae-systems","tag-bae-systems-australia","tag-ceafar","tag-ceafar-2","tag-defence-industry","tag-frigates","tag-hmas-hunter","tag-hunter-frigate","tag-hunter-class","tag-hunter-class-frigate","tag-naval-shipbuilding","tag-osborne-naval-shipyard","tag-project-sea-5000","tag-ran","tag-royal-australian-navy","tag-s2087-sonar","tag-saab-9lv","tag-surface-warfare","tag-thales-captas-4"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117154657595758243","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}