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The first Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) for the Royal Australian Navy, the future HMAS Hobart, has commenced sea trials.
Guided by two tugboats, the Hobart departed the wharf at Techport Adelaide on Monday for the first time to commence “several” days of shipbuilder sea trials off the coast of South Australia, shipbuilder AWD Alliance said.
Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines“The commencement of sea trials is a significant milestone for the Air Warfare Destroyer project and a major step towards delivery of the most capable warships ever operated by the Royal Australian Navy,” the AWD Alliance said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/AWDAlliance/status/775600703985160192
The first phase of seat trials will test the ship’s hull, propulsion and navigation systems.
“Throughout this period the ship will be operated under the command of a civilian master and crew, augmented by specialists from Alliance partners ASC and Raytheon Australia and other equipment suppliers, who will perform the system testing and trials,” the AWD Alliance said.
“During builder’s sea trials, whilst the ship is at sea, a dedicated shore support team will remain in constant communications with the ship’s master to assist the ship and ensure the success of the trials.”
A second phase of sea trials planned for early 2017 will test the Hobart’s combat and communications systems, the AWD Alliance said.
Handover of the first AWD to the RAN is planned for mid-2017.
Christopher
says:This is really exciting…
Fabian
says:Yeah I know right, years of planing and shipbuilding, and only the first has paid off.
Daryl
says:Had the pleasure of seeing the new Zumwalt class of destroyer up at the Bath Iron Works Ship yard in Maine a couple of weeks ago.A thing of beauty ,but a horrible SOB at the same time.We are light years behind.!!!!
Tom
says:Recommended to enthusiasts: Visiting Port Adelaide take the “Port River Dolphin Cruise” -takes you right past where they are building these babies & the Sub pen.
Chris
says:Daryl,
The Zumwalt Class Destroyer project was cancelled due to massive cost blow outs.
Your comparison is therefore pointless and irrelevant.
The state of the art weapons systems, sensor fusion and networked battlespace abilities of our new AWD’s will allow it to use other assets such as F-35, E-7, P-8, Triton and Reaper, to name a few, to extend its range, capabilities and battlespace awareness all operating as one fully integrated military platform.
Daryl
says:The Zumwalt project was not cancelled, it was reduced from 30+,to 3 ,due to gov budget cuts to the military.The first has joined the fleet, the second will depart the yard in 8 months, the third is in modules in various stages of construction.The Navy will not seek further funding for the class ,until the first three have been proven.
Fabian
says:The us navy announced that the next generation of ships for the us navy in limited amounts family ( ships ) but the families will be MASSIVE and the ships will be interconnected with other families. It is quite likely that more zumwalts will be added in some time in the future. I would like to see the zumwalts working with the Hobart class side by side in the future.