Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0

[Wombat000]

hmmmmm. IMHO:
Auxiliaries are great, they do awesome things & I love em.
Amphibs are great, same, love them too.
But they all need escorts.

we have an island the size of continental Europe that needs supply,
- to do that we require escorts.
we have a combatant element to the RAN of limited depth in numbers and magazine resilience.

I’m thinking that excepting auxiliaries that are enablers for more efficient combat and escort ops, then these vessels are a defensive burden on an already stretched situation.

 

[ddxx]

Not necessarily. A great deal would depend on the where/when/why/how gov't plans to utilize the "Pacific support ship". If the plan is for Australia to operate a hospital ship doing port calls to provide medical care to various Pacific Islands, then a JSS-type vessel with extra capabilities not needed for hospital care would be overkill. Not to mention the cost of building such a vessel would likely be significantly more expensive. Same goes for the support vessel if the intent to provide an essentially seagoing school.

I'm not saying they should be equiped the same - but a flexible base design which can be adapted to different roles is certainly worth exploring.

 

[Flexson]

Yes, I'm very keen to see more on this too - Let's hope it's not a token effort. I wonder if it will be a HMAS or ADV?

Does anyone have any 'guesses' as to the type of ship / possible contenders?

Considering even the Evolved Capes are being prefixed ADV I would be Reliant on it being ADV. No doubt the announcement is on the immediate Horizon and will be the Star of a speech about keeping pre-election promises.

 

[76mmGuns]

Pacific Support Ship will go to tender:

Government shelves Pacific ship build

The Morrison government has quietly shelved a plan to build a new ship in Australia, and will instead...

www.canberratimes.com.au

"The ship was removed from a list of West Australian projects on September 16, the same day the government announced it was scrapping its $90 billion submarine deal with French defence contractor Naval Group.
The ship will go to tender early next year, with invitations to register already sent out."

 

[Flexson]

Pacific Support Ship will go to tender:

Government shelves Pacific ship build

The Morrison government has quietly shelved a plan to build a new ship in Australia, and will instead...

www.canberratimes.com.au

"The ship was removed from a list of West Australian projects on September 16, the same day the government announced it was scrapping its $90 billion submarine deal with French defence contractor Naval Group.
The ship will go to tender early next year, with invitations to register already sent out."

That was posted on here some months ago.

 

[Going Boeing]

That was posted on here some months ago.

According to the Defence portfolio budget document, the vessel was purchased in Feb 22.

 

[Anthony_B_78]

According to the Defence portfolio budget document, the vessel was purchased in Feb 22.

View attachment 49066

I said this last night.

 

[Todjaeger]

This matter of this being a hospital ship keeps coming up like a bad penny. Can you please give me a link, any link, to a government requirement that the ship be anything of the sort? Or a school for that matter. I can't find it.

oldsig

No link, as I am uncertain whether the Pacific Support Ship is intended to be a hospital ship, or a floating school, or anything else for that matter. Hence why I mentioned, "If the plan is for Australia to operate a hospital ship," which I had considered an adequate indication that to date, there still is not really anything in the public domain which indicates just how AusGov is planning on utilizing the Pacific Support Ship.

With the vessel's design and capability requirements largely dictated by the role it is supposed to perform, attempting to spitball the type of vessel which should be acquired as a replacement when the role is still publicly unknown is IMO really an exercise in futility.

It might be better to try and figure out what specific vessel Australia purchased last month, as that might give some ideas on the scope and size of the Pacific Support Ship.

 

[John Fedup]

This is my first post however I’ve been following this thread for some time, and appreciate the thoughts and insights of the collective knowledge base.

There’s been a few very common recurring themes, namely; not enough hulls for the current deteriorating regional landscape, negative RAN past experiences purchasing second hand ships, limited construction capacity, and the dreaded debates over Arafura and what that class should and shouldn’t be that appear on loop.

It appears the US Navy is proposing to begin decommissioning Freedom Class LCS ships in FY23, and whilst the LCS have regularly been argued as a dead duck for the USN, and whilst many here have argued against buying ex USN ships, would these potentially be an interim capability whilst we Hunter gets underway?

Whilst designed for the littorals this may suit patrolling our northern waters allowing ANZAC and Hobart to undertake the SE Asian regional presence deployments.

Whilst second hand they are all built this millennium, they pack a bunch of kit this forum often refers to as the baseline needs such as hangar, SeaRAM, NSM. Second hand and set to be decommissioned may make the price right as an interim capability to get quickly and operate for a decade or so until we transition to Hunter.

Additionally providing a pipeline of sailor experience and command opportunities.

This link mentions the Freedom class decommissioning issue of 9 boats but the 6 others under construction will be retained. Note also Congress may refuse to allow this. Since the ship has to be cut open to redo the combining gear, probably more expensive than predicted and time consuming. Certainly not in the RAN’s interest to have dysfunctional ships with two thirsty MT30 turbines that do SFA except go fast (occasionally when working). Unbelievable that 6 more are to be completed, shitcan and have the yard start preparing for Constellation now!

All Freedom Littoral Combat Ships in Commission Tapped for Early Disposal - USNI News

THE PENTAGON – The nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships currently in Navy service – the youngest of which commissioned in 2020 – have been marked for disposal as part of the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal, USNI News has learned. The ships – USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)...

news.usni.org

 

[icelord]

This link mentions the Freedom class decommissioning issue of 9 boats but the 6 others under construction will be retained. Note also Congress may refuse to allow this. Since the ship has to be cut open to redo the combining gear, probably more expensive than predicted and time consuming. Certainly not in the RAN’s interest to have dysfunctional ships with two thirsty MT30 turbines that do SFA except go fast (occasionally when working). Unbelievable that 6 more are to be completed, shitcan and have the yard start preparing for Constellation now!

All Freedom Littoral Combat Ships in Commission Tapped for Early Disposal - USNI News

THE PENTAGON – The nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships currently in Navy service – the youngest of which commissioned in 2020 – have been marked for disposal as part of the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal, USNI News has learned. The ships – USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)...

news.usni.org

Im sure USN will repair the gearbox issues and sell them as patrol frigate to another country.

This would explain the Lockheed Martin offer to Hellenic Navy of Freedom class frigates. They submitted a short turn around which would suggest the 6 pending would be sold internationally and were offered to Greece.

 

[Redlands18]

Im sure USN will repair the gearbox issues and sell them as patrol frigate to another country.

This would explain the Lockheed Martin offer to Hellenic Navy of Freedom class frigates. They submitted a short turn around which would suggest the 6 pending would be sold internationally and were offered to Greece.

Will be interesting to see how Saudi Arabia goes with the 4 that are currently under construction for them.

 

[John Fedup]

Will be interesting to see how Saudi Arabia goes with the 4 that are currently under construction for them.

Well at least the Saudis can afford to feed the two MT30s which most other potential customers can’t.

 

[StingrayOZ]

IMO they are a fair fit for a gulf or Mediterranean country. Short distances and flat seas mean a high speed ship would be useful. Also the Saudi won't worry bulk about fuel costs.

It was in these areas that the the high speed cats were very useful. So in theory, I guess these could be used for escorts for the high speed cats or high speed ASW platforms (for helos actually doing the work) Hard for conventional subs to to get a firing solution on a 40 kt shipping platform.

 

[Mark_Evans]

This link mentions the Freedom class decommissioning issue of 9 boats but the 6 others under construction will be retained. Note also Congress may refuse to allow this. Since the ship has to be cut open to redo the combining gear, probably more expensive than predicted and time consuming. Certainly not in the RAN’s interest to have dysfunctional ships with two thirsty MT30 turbines that do SFA except go fast (occasionally when working). Unbelievable that 6 more are to be completed, shitcan and have the yard start preparing for Constellation now!

All Freedom Littoral Combat Ships in Commission Tapped for Early Disposal - USNI News

THE PENTAGON – The nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships currently in Navy service – the youngest of which commissioned in 2020 – have been marked for disposal as part of the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal, USNI News has learned. The ships – USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)...

news.usni.org

My understanding is there is a fix which can be incorporated in the ones they are still building but that it too expensive to retrofit in the existing hulls

 

[mattyg]

Leak Reveals First Details Of Australia's New AUKUS Submarine - Naval News

Australians expecting that their navy will get Virginia or Astute class nuclear submarines have had their hopes dashed. Documents reveal that the go-forward AUKUS design will be based on an enlarged Collins Class submarine.

www.navalnews.com

Would the Government release this info ? Seems a bit strange with all the chatter about the changing dynamics in the Pacific atm. Thoughts ?

 

[thatsamguy]

Would the Government release this info ? Seems a bit strange with all the chatter about the changing dynamics in the Pacific atm. Thoughts ?

Reminder to check the current date

 

[At lakes]

love the names in the article HMAS Vegimite sounds like a 1st April story

 

[Dickyknees63]

Leak Reveals First Details Of Australia's New AUKUS Submarine - Naval News

Australians expecting that their navy will get Virginia or Astute class nuclear submarines have had their hopes dashed. Documents reveal that the go-forward AUKUS design will be based on an enlarged Collins Class submarine.

www.navalnews.com

Would the Government release this info ? Seems a bit strange with all the chatter about the changing dynamics in the Pacific atm. Thoughts ?

ROFLOL !!!

 

[Volkodav]

Personally I liked new safety cam RAN uniform.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

Leak Reveals First Details Of Australia's New AUKUS Submarine - Naval News

Australians expecting that their navy will get Virginia or Astute class nuclear submarines have had their hopes dashed. Documents reveal that the go-forward AUKUS design will be based on an enlarged Collins Class submarine.

www.navalnews.com

Would the Government release this info ? Seems a bit strange with all the chatter about the changing dynamics in the Pacific atm. Thoughts ?

Reminder to check the current date

That was my initial reaction.
Though, I have never thought of Naval News as an overtly playful with reporting sort of agency. Nor have they appeared gullible enough to fall for, and publish someone else's act of humor.