BlueScope Steel AIS contract to provide steel plates for new Hunter Class Frigates of Australian Navy.

According to a press release published on June 5, 2020, BAE Systems Australia’s shipbuilding business, ASC Shipbuilding, on June 5, 2020, signed a contract with Australian company BlueScope Steel AIS to provide steel plates for new Hunter Class Frigates of Australian Navy. Under the $2.6 million contract, BlueScope Steel AIS will deliver more than 1500 tones of steel plate to ASC Shipbuilding.
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Drawing of future Hunter Class frigate for the Australian Navy. (Picture source BAE Systems)

This is the first of a number of contracts ASC Shipbuilding will award to Australian businesses in the lead up to the Hunter program’s prototyping phase and realizes the company’s commitment to use Australian steel for the $35 billion Hunter Class Frigate Program of Australian Navy.

During prototyping, five representative ship ‘blocks’ will be built at the world-class Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia. During this phase, the processes, systems, tools, facilities and workforce competencies will be extensively tested and refined before construction commences on the first frigate in 2022.

ASC Shipbuilding will design and build nine Hunter Class ships, which will be among the world’s most advanced anti-submarine warfare frigates, for the Royal Australian Navy.

The steel contract comes as ASC Shipbuilding undertakes a range of initiatives to develop a sovereign industrial capability for Australia. These collaborative programs with industry and academia will form the foundation of the digital shipbuilding framework that will be developed further during prototyping, increasing the Australian industry’s capability and capacity to contribute to complex naval shipbuilding programs, now and in the future.

The Hunter-class frigate will be an Australian variation of the Type 26 class frigate that is to be operated by the Royal Navy from the mid-2020s. The class will have an 8,800-tonne (8,700-long-ton; 9,700-short-ton) full load displacement and will be approximately 150 meters (490 ft) in length. The vessel will be capable of sailing in excess of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) and will have a full complement of 180 crew.

The Hunter-class frigate will be armed with one 5-inch 54 caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 dual-purpose gun, Mark 41 Vertical Launch System able to fire RIM-66 Standard 2 and RIM-162 ESSM missiles, 2 x 4-canister advanced anti-ship missiles, two Phalanx CIWS, 2 × 30mm short-range gun systems and MU90 Impact torpedoes.

The Hunter-class frigate will be able to carry one MH-60R ASW helicopter and has the ability to host other Australian aircraft such as the MRH90 helicopter. Mission Bay can store additional helicopter or unmanned systems.