By
LCDR Antony Underwood
The enthusiasm of the Director Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Capability
Development is considerable and contagious.
“We live in exciting times and the young people in the Navy are
going to have these ships to serve in,” CAPT John Vandyke said
“It’s a prospect that should excite the younger sailors at sea
at the moment, they will be the buffers, the CSMs and chief stokers
of these ships. It’s significant, it really is.”
CAPT Vandyke was speaking in the wake of the announcement by the
Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill, that ASC Shipbuilder
Pty Ltd in Adelaide had been chosen as the preferred shipbuilder
for the new AWDs in a Defence project worth up to $6 billion.
At the media conference called to announce the decision, Chief
of Navy-designate VADM Russ Shalders described the prospect of
these ships coming on line in 2013 as a very exciting for the
Navy.
“These ships will be the centrepiece of the Fleet for probably
the next 40 years,” he said. VADM Shalders also responded to a
question on the role of the air warfare destroyers, to be fitted
with the world’s best Aegis weapons system.
“Probably the most important thing that they will do will be to
provide a protective ‘bubble’ over whatever area they’re working
in,” he said.
“That area could be a convoy; it could be a couple of amphibious
ships taking troops to some far off place; or it could be a point
of land.
“But the protective ‘bubble’ that’s provided by something like
an Aegis cruiser or destroyer is the capability that we’ll be
seeking from the ships - a large protective ‘bubble’ and a highly
effective one in terms of defeating threats that could seek to
encroach the ‘bubble’.”
While space has always been short in warships, technology and
crewing arrangements also mean those who operate them will be
a lot more comfortable than those who have gone before.
The World War II Amphion class ships of equivalent displacement
(around 7000 tonnes) had a complement of 570 and “crew comfort”
was what you got at home. “We’re aiming for a ship’s company of
around 180, that’s the target,” CAPT Vandyke said.
The US Navy operates some 60 Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke class
destroyers. “Our new AWDs will be another leap in technology from
the Arleigh Burkes and we will be taking advantage of latest technologies
that weren’t necessarily around when they were built, for example,
the engineering plant will require significantly fewer people,”
CAPT Vandyke said.
“The US Navy are recognising the manning premium now - through
their investigation of ‘smart ship’ they’ve managed to reduce
the complement for the Arleigh Burkes down from more than 300
to 232.
CAPT Vandyke made it clear that the designers will make the new
ships as comfortable as possible - short of installing a swimming
pool.
“Obviously, habitability will be a significant issue and we’ll
be looking to make it the highest possible standard that we can,”
he said.
“There’ll obviously be a very good LAN, an excellent entertainment
system and a purpose-designed gymnasium - one that’s actually
built into the ship rather than using a hangar or spare space.
“It’ll be as state-of-the-art as a warship can be - Anzacs plus.
“The hangars will be designed to take up to an NH90-sized helicopter,
and certainly be able to accommodate and support Seahawks and
Super Seasprites.”
[No decision has been made on helicopters for the new ships, but
NH90s are similar in size to the 12 MRH90 troop lift helicopters
being bought for the Australian Army.]
CAPT Vandyke added there’s a possibility that unhabited aerial
vehicles (UAVs) will operate from the new ships.
