[World] First-of-class Hobart launched delays

Guided missile destroyer Hobart at a launch ceremony on 23 May. [© Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence]

The first of three air warfare destroyers (AWDs) for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was launched on 23 May amid the disclosure of further delays and cost overruns in a programme that is already well behind schedule and significantly over budget.

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews referred to the launch of the 7,000-tonne first-of-class Hobart at shipbuilder ASC's facility near Adelaide as a key achievement in the AUD 8.5 billion (USD 7.2 billion) programme.

However, in a joint statement the previous day with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Andrews pointed to "serious legacy issues" and said a forensic audit had suggested that completion of the AWD programme would require an additional AUD 1.2 billion.

At the same time, Andrews announced a revised delivery schedule for the first ship from December 2014 to June 2017, the second from March 2016 to September 2018, and the third from June 2017 to March 2020.

The earlier dates were themselves rebaselined in September 2012.

The ministers also announced that a limited tender process would begin on 29 May seeking proposals to either insert a managing contractor into government-owned ASC for the remainder of the AWD build, or to further enhance ASC capability through a partnering arrangement.

The government announced in December 2014 that specialists from BAE Systems, ship designer Navantia and Raytheon were being seconded to ASC to improve programme performance. Raytheon is systems integrator in the AWD Alliance, which also includes ASC and the Defence Materiel Organisation.

Forecasting the latest delays in delivery, Colin Thorne, DMO's General Manager Land and Maritime, told a conference on 1 April that AWD productivity was running at about 170 manhours per compensated gross tonne.

This compared with core productivity of around 60 manhours which should be possible from an experienced and productive shipyard in the Australian context.

Andrews confirmed that the government would release an enterprise-level naval shipbuilding plan later in 2015 that would provide for the long-term future of the Australian naval shipbuilding programme. On several occasions he has referred to the benefits of batch production, and the necessity of reforms.

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