No, we shouldn’t go backwards and build more air warfare destroyers

By Peter Roberts

One of the most recurring themes in defence media nowadays is that Australia should build more Hobart class Air Warfare Destroyers (picture).

Hardly a week goes by without a story appearing somewhere of Spanish shipbuilder Navantia who designed the ships ‘ramping up their campaign’ to build more of the vessels to add to the three constructed in Adelaide.

There are even persistent suggestions we should cut back on our order for nine Hunter class anti-submarine frigates to make room for their construction at the recently upgraded Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide.

It is almost as if there is a giant PR campaign going on with the idea of changing government opinion – it certainly looks that way.

So successful has this campaign been that the recent Defence Strategic Review suggested a further review by defence on the future force structure for the navy, now underway, at the same time pointing to a need for long range strike capability.

Now hang on a minute, there are good reasons why we shouldn’t jump at the chance to build more Spanish warships here, even though the Hobarts are very capable ships.

The first is that, actually, we have a massive need for anti-submarine forces. Cutting back on those we thought we needed a few years back makes no sense in an era of heightened maritime trensions when submarines are still the main deterrent to any navy’s operations.

In times of heightened tension, we need more anti submarine capability, not less.

But the main reason is a manufacturing one.

The AWD is built on the basis of paper plans, tens of thousands of them, whereas the Hunter class frigates are an all digital design where digital plans are sent to workers on computer linked machines in a digital shipyard.

The federal government’s Australian Naval Infrastructure built Osborne from scratch to be digital from day one.

The resulting accuracy of the build of the Hunter and hence quality of the final ships are a generation ahead of the paper based AWDs.

Interrupting the digital yard to reintroduce a paper-era ship would be like Tesla deciding to coachbuild its next car based on a heavy chassis and a bolted on body made from wood and hand beaten metal.

If we do need more striking power, then we should not look to the past for our designs.

We should continue the all digital path we have started in Adelaide and look for a new, and modern design.

Anything else would be a retrograde step – and right now we don’t need another blundering government to lumber Australian naval shipbuilding with that.

Picture: Department of Defence/Hobart class destroyer