Hunter frigate chief Craig Lockhart pitches for destroyer build

Adelaide’s frigate program chief is warning of a threat to continuous Adelaide naval shipbuilding as he pitches to build destroyers.

A newly guaranteed continuous Adelaide naval shipbuilding program would be sunk by the sacking of 560 Hunter frigate engineers unless they can start designing next-generation air warfare destroyers, warns BAE Systems Australia maritime chief Craig Lockhart.

A rolling warship construction at Osborne Naval Shipyard, where BAE is building six Hunter-class frigates, was a centrepiece of Defence Minister Richard Marles’ major navy surface fleet changes unveiled on Tuesday.

But Mr Lockhart told The Advertiser the original 2018 contract was to deliver for the federal government the domestic capability to design, build and deliver a complex warship.

Three of a planned nine Hunter frigates were axed in the surface fleet changes, with Mr Marles committing instead to three Adelaide-built air warfare destroyers to replace the Hobart Class.

BAE is pitching an evolved Hunter design, adding 64 vertical launch missile cells to take the total to 96, arguing this will produce a destroyer capability for extremely low cost.

Evolved Hunter Class design for guided missile frigate. Supplied by BAE Systems Australia

Mr Lockhart warned the Hunter design engineers would run out of work after the third frigate had been produced if BAE was not chosen for the air warfare destroyer program.

“We had to have built, and delivered, for the Australian government a capability that was able to design, build and deliver a complex warship of its own making,” he said.

“We’ve now got 560 engineers related to the Hunter program. If we don’t exercise that design muscle by giving them new ship designs to work on that continuous naval shipbuilding obligation has been all in vain.

“By the time we get to ship three, the bulk of the changes will have been done on Hunter. If they’ve got nothing else to work on, then we’ll be making them redundant.

“That’s where continuous naval shipbuilding has to really kick in. The government has already invested that money for that design engineering resource – get them working on the destroyer variant.”

Evolved Hunter Class design for guided missile frigate. Supplied by BAE Systems Australia

Mr Lockhart, BAE Systems Australia’s managing director maritime, said the multinational defence firm had 1497 workers at Osborne now and expected that to grow to 2500 when frigate production peaked in 2026. Most of the current workforce were trades, such as electricians and fitters.

BAE would be able to preserve the 2026 workforce peak if its pitch to use the Hunter hull for an evolved destroyer capability was successful, meaning a total of nine warships would be delivered.

“The more ships you build the cheaper it gets. So, you get your last three ships in any nine-ship model pretty much effectively free,” Mr Lockhart said.

Removing the Hunter’s anti-submarine warfare for destroyer capability meant it did not need to be so stealthy and quiet, enabling minor engineering changes to increase ship speed.