Royal Navy frigate stops in Adelaide on Australia tour

Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland stopped in Adelaide on February 23, for a visit as part of her tour of Australia tour.

Sutherland is on a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific to strengthen defense ties, as well as promote stability and security through combined naval operations and exercises.

As part of her Australian tour, Sutherland has visited Fremantle and Adelaide, and will now proceed to Sydney for exercises with the Royal Australian Navy.

Australian defense industry minister Christopher Pyne visited the frigate as it called into South Australia.

“Australia and the UK are committed to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Sutherland’s visit continues the close cooperation between our two navies,” minister Pyne said.

“As we are developing a sovereign Australian naval shipbuilding industry it is crucial we seize opportunities like this to exchange expertise with other leading maritime states.

“As we embark on the $35 billion Future Frigate program to build nine anti-submarine warfare frigates in Australia, seeing the full capabilities of all nations helps inform the Australian Defence Force and our industry partners.

Sutherland is a Type 23 anti-submarine warfare frigate, a predecessor of the Type 26 being proposed by BAE Systems for Australia’s Future Frigate program.

Fincantieri and Navantia are also participating in the competitive evaluation process for the Future Frigate program.