OSBORNE, Australia, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- An Australian unit of Britain's Babcock International Group has begun assembly of torpedo launchers for Hobart class Air Warfare Destroyers.
Originally designed for the U.S. Navy, the Mk32 Mod 9 launchers are a twin-barreled variant of the Mk32 launchers in operation on Anzac and FFG frigates in Australia and will be modified to discharge Eurotorp MU90 torpedoes.
"Having the component parts and subassemblies arrive at our Techport Australia site, and starting the assembly process, marks an exciting and important milestone in this contract," said Babcock's director in Australia, Pat Donovan. "Delivery of the completed launchers is on track against our project schedule and ahead of the customer's required delivery date of September 2011 for the first ship-set."
Babcock Pty Ltd, part of Babcock International Group, was awarded the contract in December 2008 by Raytheon Australia Pty Ltd, on behalf of the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance.
Babcock said assembly for six launchers, for three ships in all, will be followed by Factory Acceptance Testing of each set at Babcock's newly developed facility at Techport, South Australia.
The FAT will involve safety and interlock checks and the measurement of additional system parameters during the discharge of a dummy weapon from the launchers into a specially designed rig.
During the first phase of the contract Babcock has worked closely with the U.S. Naval Underwater Weapons Center in Rhode Island, and has transferred a technical data pack to Australia under a license granted by the U.S. Department of State.
