Sea trials for new Australian Navy ship

WILLIAMSTOWN, Australia, June 23 (UPI) -- The second Landing Helicopter Dock ship being built for the Royal Australian Navy is being readied to begin sea trials ahead of delivery.

BAE Australia, which is building NUSHIP Adelaide with Navantia, said the ship is now underway from Williamstown, Victoria, to Sydney, New South Wales, where she will be drydocked for cleaning and painting of its flight deck.

On the voyage to Sydney and back the ship's systems will be tested. The tests will include system tests in specific configurations and/or water depths and in a number of scenarios.

In August, the ship's communications and combat systems will undergo sea trials.

"We will undertake approximately 240 hours of testing over 20 days to ensure all systems perform to their capability," said BAE Systems Director of Maritime Bill Saltzer said. "Some of the trials will run concurrently and cover everything from basic systems operations such as alarms, to the ship's maneuverability while at sea.

"We are on track to deliver NUSHIP Adelaide at the end of September this year. The ship is even more ready than HMAS Canberra was for her first sea trials, reinforcing that we have implemented lessons learned from the first of class and we have continued to improve our productivity."