Final Adelaide-built air warfare destroyer HMAS Sydney to set sail

AUSTRALIA’S third and final Adelaide-built air warfare destroyer will hit the water this week.

• ASC abolishes 200 positions as destroyer project winds down

AUSTRALIA’S third and final air warfare destroyer will hit the water this week.

The Sydney, built at the Osborne shipyards, will start sea trials before being delivered to the navy next year.

The $9.1 billion warship project was plagued in its early days by productivity issues, including budget and timeline blowouts.

However, productivity levels have increased by about 35 per cent between the completion of each new ship.

Adelaide-built HMAS Hobart and Brisbane during sea acceptance trials.

A damning report from the Australian National Audit Office this week questioned the future of the AWD workforce, and warned of ongoing risks to upcoming projects — including the Future Frigates and the Future Submarines — because of their enormous scale.

But Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne yesterday told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch in Adelaide that “we’ve come a long way” in SA.

He said the so-called Valley of Death, where AWD workers were being lost as the project ramped down, had been “bridged”, and called on South Australian firms to put their hands up for defence work.

He said the $90 billion submarine and shipbuilding investment was “the largest and most complex national project in our history”. “It’s impact is transformative, and will be felt for a very long time,” Mr Pyne said.

New BAE chief Gabby Costigan said the frigate and submarine programs would “create significant and sustained change” and would be “much bigger than the Snowy Hydro river scheme”.

BAE is one of three firms bidding for the $35 billion Future Frigates program. The outcome of the tender is expected to be known within weeks.

Earlier in the day, Mr Pyne welcomed a decision by international defence company Dassault Systèmes to set up an office within the University of Adelaide.

University Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen said students would be able to work with Dassault to develop “industry-ready” skills. The 3D design experts will create a new team with staff from France and India as well as interns.