NewsBite

Royal Australian Navy

This Month

German shipbuilder TKMS’ Meko A-200 frigate is under consideration for the Australian navy’s general purpose frigate.

$10b warship decision months away despite China fears

The government has whittled down to two contenders for a lucrative navy project, but there are questions why a final decision won’t be made until mid-year.

  • Andrew Tillett
German shipbuilder TKMS’ Meko A-200 frigate is under consideration for the Australian navy’s general purpose frigate.

Navy’s $10b warship contest down to Germans, Japanese

The Albanese government will make a final decision next year on the winning designer for a contract to build 11 new light frigates for the navy.

  • Updated
  • Andrew Tillett
Donald Trump at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

AUKUS problems go beyond Trump

While people fret about US ties under a Trump presidency, US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has highlighted some issues go beyond personnel.

  • Andrew Tillett

October

HMAS Sydney fires Royal Australian Navy’s first Naval Strike Missile.

Missile ambitions are the key to our future defence

Australia’s defence strategy could survive a faltering of AUKUS submarines, but not the loss of the plan to build missiles at home.

  • Peter Dean and Alice Nason

September

German navy Vice Admiral Frank Lenski in Canberra last week.

Worries over China help Australia find unlikely allies

A top German navy commander is keen to work more with Australia, as Russia and China deepen their own maritime co-operation.

  • Andrew Tillett
Advertisement
HMAS Supply docked at Sydney’s Garden Island naval base this week.

Faulty $1.2b navy ships out of action until 2025

Engineers are still trying to determine root causes of engine and drivetrain issues that have stopped the navy from being able to refuel warships at sea.

  • Andrew Tillett

August

The Austal-built USS Canberra at its shipyards in Mobile, Alabama.

Austal fights to keep US Navy work after $35m fraud penalty

The Australian defence contractor accepted a $US24 million fine in a plea deal to avoid criminal prosecution after a long-running American investigation.

  • Brad Thompson
Military boat builder Darren Schuback has been in the US winning contracts and preparing for expansion.

Ellerston, Bondi’s 1941 Fund backs Australian navy boat builder

Street Talk understands Sydney-based The Whiskey Project has pinned down $5 million to assist with its US expansion and boost its local manufacturing facility.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

July

US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AO, and the UK Royal Navy First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ben Key KCB CBE ADC during an AUKUS event in Perth.

‘Not a coherent word’: Keating slams PM, Marles over AUKUS

Former prime minister Paul Keating says there has been no proper debate about AUKUS’ impact on Australia’s defence settings, as a new report backs the delivery schedule.

  • Tom Rabe
American shipyards will be able to deliver the first Virginia class submarines for Australia in 2032.

AUKUS critics fail to match their speculation with substance

There is a long list of loud objections to the project. But how many of them really stand up to scrutiny?

  • Ross Babbage
A digitally created image of a nuclear-powered submarine.

‘Show me the evidence’: AUKUS tsar challenges critics

Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead says there will be setbacks but Australia is on track to meet key milestones under AUKUS.

  • Andrew Tillett

There’s no point dwelling on AUKUS paths not taken

The submarine project needs more constructive criticism, and less grievance from those whose preferences were not followed.

  • Justin Burke
Ordnance aboard a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea has yet to make a difference to Houthi attacks in the region.

Australia goes missing as Red Sea crisis deepens

The Houthis have been remarkably persistent in disrupting global trade. But there is a deeper strategic cost to Australia as well.

  • Jennifer Parker
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo in 2015.

The battle for Australia’s new submarines

A new book reveals the problems Australian political and military leaders faced in making the most important naval acquisition in a generation.

  • Andrew Fowler
Australia’s first Navy officers to graduate from the Royal Navy’s Nuclear Reactor Course. L-R: Lieutenant Stephen, Lieutenant Commander James and Lieutenant Isabella.

‘Like lockdown, in a tube’: Aussies taking the plunge in nuclear subs

After up to 18 months of training, three Australian submariners will deploy on British Astute-class boats. It’s a small step on the long road to AUKUS.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Advertisement
SSNs, as these submarines are referred to in military parlance, are incredibly powerful assets capable of multiple roles.

Control of the sea is worth gambling on AUKUS

To any objective observer it is apparent acquiring nuclear-powered submarines has significant advantages for national security. However, these come with major costs and risks.

  • Richard Dunley
Peter Briggs, Paul Greenfield, Jon Stanford

‘A cruel joke’: Why AUKUS might leave Australia stranded

A group of defence experts says that the Albanese government is on course for a financial and strategic AUKUS disaster, in the final part of an exclusive series.

  • James Curran
Scott Morrison incurred the wrath of French President Emmanuel Macron when he announced the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with UK PM Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden.

Morrison’s ‘longest night’: Inside the making of AUKUS

The military agreement is a mess and risks leaving Australia with no submarine capability at all by the late 2030s. The cloak of secrecy that secured the deal could now be its undoing.

  • James Curran

June

Austal chairman John Rothwell set up the shipbuilder in the late 1980s.

Hanwha settles into Austal cold war as shipbuilder swaps out chairman

The new chairman at ASX-listed shipbuilder Austal also happens to be the chairman of Joe Hockey’s advisory firm Bondi Partners.

  • Updated
  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
The Navy has achieved many milestones, with all branches now open to women, and females now commanding ships at sea and establishments ashore.

Time to promote a woman as deputy chief of Navy

The officer second in charge of the Royal Australian Navy will shortly rotate, opening the way for a historic first appointment of a female.

  • Jennifer Parker

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/royal-australian-navy-1nn1