Advertisement

Australia launches first AWD destroyer

The future HMAS Hobart, a first-of-class air warfare destroyer, has been launched by the Australian Navy and its builders.

By Richard Tomkins
Australia's first-of-class air warfare destroyer Hobart. Royal Australian Navy photograph.
Australia's first-of-class air warfare destroyer Hobart. Royal Australian Navy photograph.

ADELAIDE, Australia, May 26 (UPI) -- The first of three air warfare destroyers for the Royal Australian Navy, the Hobart, was launched on the weekend in the state of South Australia.

The Hobart, the first of class AWD, is 483 feet long, 61 feet in the beam, will have a speed of more than 28 knots and a range of 5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots per hour. It will be capable of firing a variety of missiles – including cruise missiles – and will carry five-inch guns and Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems.

Advertisement

The vessel is a project of the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance, which is composed of shipbuilder ASC, mission systems integrator Raytheon Australia and the government's Defense Materiel Organization.

The future HMAS Hobart is 75 percent complete and will not be outfitted with sensors and weapons before beginning Navy acceptance trials, the Royal Australian Navy said.

"On her launch day, she is no longer just inert steel in an industrial site," Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett said at the launch ceremony. "She has reached the point in her construction when she no longer belongs ashore."

Latest Headlines