AWD Alliance to launch Australia’s third and final Hobart-class destroyer

AWD Alliance, the alliance in charge of delivering Royal Australian Navy ‘s air warfare destroyers, is set to launch the third and final destroyer in the class in a ceremony on Saturday, May 19.

NUSHIP Sydney, as the ship is to be named, will be launched at ASC’s Adelaide shipyard.

Sydney is entering the water two and a half years after construction on the ship officially started with a keel-laying ceremony in December 2015.

The launching ceremony starts at approximately 9.45am (ACST) and will be live streamed, according to AWD Alliance.

You can watch the launch here.

NUSHIP Sydney will be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy sometime in 2019, following further oufitting and sea trials.

The lead ship in the class, HMAS Hobart, has already entered service. The second ship, future HMAS Brisbane, started sea trials in November 2017 and will be delivered to the navy mid-2018.

Hobart-class destroyers are built under an AU$9 billion program with ASC as primary shipbuilder and Spanish Navantia as the designer.

The ships are over 140 metres long, have a top speed of more than 28 knots, a range of about 5000 nautical miles and room for more than 200 crew members.

Based on Navantia’s F100 design, the air warfare destroyers are equipped with the Aegis weapon system incorporating the AN/ SPY 1D(V) phased array radar in combination with the SM-2 missile.

The ships will provide an air defense system capable of engaging enemy aircraft and missiles at ranges in excess of 150 kilometers.

HMAS Hobart and the yet to be commissioned Brisbane recently successfully demonstrated the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), a system which expands the ships’ battlespace awareness by sharing sensor data among a network of CEC-equipped ships and aircraft.

The AWDs will also carry a MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ naval combat helicopter for surveillance and response to support key warfare areas. The surface warfare function will include long range anti-ship missiles and a naval gun capable of firing extended range munitions in support of land forces. The AWDs will also be able to conduct undersea warfare and will be equipped with sonar systems, decoys and surface-launched torpedoes.