Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0

[StingrayOZ]

Stingray, where did you find that image? It's awesome.

Yeh, AI is both terrible and hilarious. I find it interesting to mock up images.

Looking into the playschool window of what ifs..
Anyone keeping track of the F110 Flight II?

I presume this is what Spain was really offering when they offered us to build more Hobart destroyers.

	Hobart class, upgraded	F110 Flight II / IAMD
Full-load displacement	~7,000 t	~6,700 t
Length	146.7 m	~150 m
Beam	18.6 m	18.6 m
Speed	28+ kt	>29 kt
Published range	4,500 nmi @ 18 kt	~4,100 nmi @ 15 kt
Crew	~180 nominal	~170 + 37 mission/command
Main VLS	48 × Mk 41 Strike Length	48 × Strike + 16 × Tactical = 64
Main radar	AN/SPY-1D(V)	AN/SPY-7(V)2, 100 SAS/face
Combat system	Full Aegis Baseline 9 + Australian Interface	SCOMBA + Aegis IAFCL + CEC
Area AAW	SM-2 IIIC, SM-6	SM-2; ESSM; other integration possible
Land strike	Tomahawk integrated	Strike-length cells physically suitable, but Tomahawk integration not announced
Anti-ship	8 × NSM	8 × NSM
ASW sonar	Hull + towed-array system	BlueMaster + CAPTAS-4 Compact VDS
Propulsion	CODOG	quiet CODLAG
Helicopter	MH-60R	MH-60R/NH90
Main gun	Mk 45 Mod 4 127 mm	OTO 127/64 LW
Close defence	Phalanx + Nulka + ESSM	30-mm systems + ESSM + decoys; DEW/C-UAS planned
Mission bay	Limited	Dedicated multi-mission space

I like hunter and mogami. But we have only 3 Destroyers and will continue to do so for a long, long time. But man, that would have been nice to have 2-3 of these. 64 VLS, essentially same layout and systems as Hobart in a similar evolved hull.

I feel if we had gone with that not only would we have things coming to the fleet right now as we are decommissioning ships, but the capabilities would have been welcomed.

We would be getting our first ship next year.

 

[iambuzzard]

Or we the RAN can look at this

Japan Unveils the World’s Most Expensive Seaplanes Ever Built

Japan is launching the world’s most expensive seaplanes ever built, featuring advanced technologies and remarkable design to enhance military and Arctic operations.

www.theasianwallstreet.com

They have been in service first as the Military PS-1 Anti-Submarine Flying Boat and De-Militarised US-1 Air-Sea Rescue Amphibian.
Japan have a brilliant program of innovation and upgrading platforms over time as we are seeing with the Evolved Mogami we are getting.
As I have mentioned before, we need to continue a similar program with our own shipbuilding. Move on to an upgraded version after our initial 11. Rotate out the older platforms and replace them with upgrades. Or even better, increase our numbers for a simple fix to the valley of death.