Agence France-Presse,
Australia will spend more than nine billion US dollars on five warships to be built in partnership with the Spanish company Navantia, Prime Minister John Howard announced Wednesday.
The deal involves three Navantia-designed F100 air warfare destroyers worth eight billion Australian dollars — chosen over a US design — and two giant Navantia landing ships at a cost of about three billion for a total of 11 billion dollars (9.28 billion US).
The destroyers, which will be Australia's most advanced and expensive warships, will enter service from 2014.
“This does represent a massive lift in the Royal Australian Navy air warfare capability,” Howard said, adding they would be equipped with the most capable air combat system in the world.
The destroyers will be assembled in Adelaide by an alliance between navy shipbuilder ASC, the Defence Materiel Organisation and mission systems company Raytheon, he said.
Howard said the Navantia amphibious landing ships would also help with disaster relief efforts.
“They will greatly enhance Australia's ability to send forces in strength when required, particularly in our own region but not, of course, restricted to our own region,” he told reporters.
“(They) will, of course, include a capacity to send forces and men and women and materials in relation to disaster relief efforts.
“They will be able to land over 1,000 personnel along with their vehicles — the new M1 Abrams tanks, artillery and supplies, and using integrated helicopters and water craft.”
Howard said about a quarter of the construction work on the landing ships would take place in Australia, generating about 600 jobs.
The navy reportedly favoured a larger, US-designed destroyer which could be more readily updated with changing technology, has a longer range, and carries more missiles and an extra helicopter.
But chief of the Navy Vice Admiral Russ Shalders said he “absolutely” supported the government's decision to purchase the Spanish warships instead of the US-designed vessels.
“The navy is very excited, very optimistic about both of these decisions,” Vice Admiral Shalders told the news conference.
