General News

[Pelican]

How to plug the Royal Australian Navy’s looming surface capability gap

Released 10 months after the defence strategic review (DSR), the annexed and long-awaited review of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet has finally brought some much-needed clarity on the RAN’s ambitions to expand and add potency to its current inventory of eight frigates and three destroyers.

To a more contingent extent, last week’s announcement also signaled the government’s willingness to back the new blueprint financially, committing $1.7 billion over the forward estimates and $11.1 billion in additional funding in the coming decade. Whether this represents sufficient puff to fill the tattered sails of naval recapitalisation and generate forward momentum is uncertain. As long as the bulk of the estimated $54 billion overall cost of the plan remains unbudgeted, the risk of being mired in future budgetary doldrums will continue to weigh over the Navy’s ambitions.

[Extract:
In the submarine realm, the optimal pathway announced last year, includes provision for up to four US Navy (USN) nuclear submarines and a single British boat to ‘rotationally deploy’ out of Fleet Base West at HMAS Stirling, south of Perth, from as early as 2027, several years before the first Virginia-class SSN is transferred to Australia. This forward basing (in all but name) of US and UK submarines under SRF-West has reduced anxiety about whether we could be left under-defended until AUKUS starts to deliver nuclear hulls into Australian hands in the early 2030s.

This begs an obvious question: whether a similar solution is advisable for the surface fleet’s looming shortfalls?

One possibility here would be to offer the UK access to Fleet Base West for the forward deployment of two frigates which later this decade should replace the current, roving pair of River-class offshore patrol vessels as the UK’s main surface presence in the Indo-Pacific. The step-up to frigates will necessitate more complex logistical support than the commercial-spec OPVs, pointing to the need for a fixed base in a friendly location. The combat capability the Type-31 or Type-32 frigate will bring would be a useful adjunct to the dwindling cohort of ANZAC frigates, maintaining a strategically aligned presence in the north-east Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. An offer to host them from Australia would also help the Royal Navy make the case for continued forward deployment to the British government, which could change political stripes in general elections later this year.]

See - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/how-t ... ility-gap/

[Brian James]

Cuthbert's Ship Building Yard pictured at Millers Point in 1865, under the watchful gaze of the Observatory. Today this area is part of the Barangaroo foreshore development where several layers of Sydney can be seen from the bay to the city.

[Pelican]

Farewelling the First Lady of the Fleet

HMAS Anzac will decommission at Fleet Base West on Saturday 18th May 2024, following nearly 30 years of faithful service.
Navy is offering an Expression of Interest opportunity for those with an association to HMAS Anzac, where priority will be given to previous crew members, noting the limited venue capacity.
Click here to register your interest https://ran.eventsair.com/hmas-anzac-de ... XW_qxbrnCz
*Please note that registering your expression of interest does not guarantee an invitation to attend.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, LHD HMAS Canberra...Henry J Kaiser Class Replenishment Oiler USNS Yukon...Anzac Class Frigate HMAS Warramunga...2024.

[Pelican]

Australia’s Ghost Shark Uncrewed Submarine Breaks Cover

The Ghost Shark is Australia’s ambitious extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle, but details about its future missions remain scarce.

Anduril has unveiled the prototype of its Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle (XL-AUV), which is being developed for Australia. The Ghost Shark is described by the manufacturer as providing a “modular, multi-purpose capability that can flexibly respond to the Australian Defense Force’s mission requirements,” although, at this point, it remains uncertain exactly what kinds of missions a production version of the underwater drone might undertake.

Anduril — together with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), and the Defense Science and Technology Group (DSTG) — released photos yesterday of the first Ghost Shark prototype and announced that the program is ahead of schedule and on budget. Previously, it had been expected that the first prototype would appear sometime before the end of 2025.

Continues https://www.twz.com/sea/australias-ghos ... hNm4ce9iG-