Adelaide in the box seat to secure $4.4bn overhaul of Hobart-class air warfare destroyers’ Aegis combat system

Demand for hundreds of highly skilled jobs look set to build in SA, as Adelaide is in the box seat for a new major defence project.

Adelaide is poised to secure a multibillion-dollar defence contract for major upgrades to the Hobart-class air warfare destroyer fleet, creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs and boosting the economy.

The Sunday Mail understands BAE Systems is in the box seat to overhaul the highly sophisticated Aegis combat system in the three Adelaide-built warships at the Osborne shipyards. The work would start in 2024.

A decision on the location of the contract is expected to be officially revealed in coming months, but industry sources say Adelaide is set to secure the work.

The project, dubbed SEA4000 Phase 6, is expected to create hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in related economic activity.

The Defence Department has been tossing up between Osborne and Western Australia’s Henderson shipyard for the project.

South Australia’s defence industry also remains poised for two other major wins – a $10bn contract for a major overhaul of the six Collins-class submarines and the full-cycle docking work on those subs. The upgrades to the Hobart-class air warfare destroyers will take 18 to 24 months for each ship and cost between $2.9bn and $4.4bn in total.

The three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers were built at the Osborne shipyard.

The two major components of the upgrade will be an overhaul of the Aegis combat system and the replacement of the tactical interface developed by Saab Australia.

Aegis Baseline 9 – the most up-to-date version of the combat system – will be installed.

The upgrades will not only involve major software overhauls but also hardware and other physical modifications.

At an October 2020 Senate estimates hearing, the Defence Department’s first assistant secretary for ships, Sheryl Lutz, said a single prime contractor would be responsible for work on both the software and physical upgrades.

However, any changes to the ships’ platforms would need to be approved by Spanish naval giant Navantia, the original designers of the Hobart-class ships.

The Sunday Mail approached BAE Systems Australia to discuss the upgrades but the company declined to comment. Finance Minister and SA’s most senior Liberal Simon Birmingham said: “I have the highest regard for the capability of SA industry but will save any comment on national security decisions for when they’ve been both made and publicly announced.”

The Aegis combat system can guide missiles at enemy targets more than 150km away.

The Aegis combat system, produced by Lockheed Martin, is touted as the “world’s most- advanced combat system”.

It uses complex computer and radar technology to track and guide missiles at enemy targets more than 150km away.

The three ships in the Hobart-class fleet are the HMAS Brisbane, HMAS Hobart and HMAS Sydney.

The fleet was primarily built by ASC Shipbuilding, now a subsidiary of BAE Systems, at Osborne at a cost of $9.1bn. HMAS Hobart was the first to be commissioned in September 2017, followed by Brisbane in October 2018 and Sydney in May 2020.

In addition to surface-to-air missiles, the Hobart-class has long-range anti-ship missiles and a naval gun capable of supporting land forces. The fleet has significant underwater capabilities with modern sonar systems, decoys and torpedoes.

The Sunday Mail, in June, revealed Adelaide was close to securing the contracts for major overhaul of the Collins fleet and the full-cycle docking. The latter would keep more than 700 jobs in SA.

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