Defence Minister Richard Marles is preparing to announce a major overhaul of the nation’s naval fleet, which is expected to include gutting the troubled Hunter-class frigate program and the addition of extra maritime firepower.
Over $50 billion of government spending is on the line, with some of the world’s biggest defence contractors jostling to secure lucrative contracts to build warships to replace the navy’s ageing Anzac-class frigates, while South Australia and Western Australia battle for the shipbuilding rights.
The government had planned to build nine Hunter-class frigates in Adelaide but that number could be slashed to free up money for other vessels.
Marles is expected to release within weeks the government’s response to a secret review of the navy’s surface fleet by retired US vice-admiral William Hilarides, with expectations firming that the number of Hunter-class frigates will be slashed from a planned nine to six, or possibly even three, vessels.
The Hunter-class frigate program has blown out in size and cost since it was announced in 2018, with critics saying the ships’ lack of missile cells would leave them seriously under-gunned in any conflict.
The government has come under fire from the defence sector for failing to match its rhetoric on national security with additional spending, while South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas has pleaded with the federal government not to risk Adelaide shipbuilding jobs by slashing the number of Hunter-class ships.
There is widespread expectation in the defence sector that the government will announce the addition of several smaller “tier two” vessels in line with the Defence Strategic Review’s call for a mix of larger and smaller navy combatants.
Several sources said they expected an announcement on or around February 19.
Jennifer Parker, an adjunct fellow in naval studies at UNSW, said increasing the lethality of the nation’s warships should be the government’s top priority.
“What we have to see, and what we will see, is an increase in the number of missiles we have at sea,” she said.
Parker said she expected the government to reduce the number of Hunter-class frigates and replace them with new “tier two” combatants (which are smaller than “tier one” ships).
The fact these ships could be crewed with half the personnel required for a Hunter-class frigate was a major advantage given the navy’s well-chronicled staff shortages, she said.
Parker said the idela candidate was the Arrowhead 140 frigate being built for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy by defence firm Babcock International.
The West Australian government is pushing for Arrowhead 140 ships to be built at the Henderson shipyards near Perth.
Other sources said they expected the government to opt for a corvette made by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, Australian defence giant Austal and Australian-Singaporean construction firm Civmec.
Several sources unable to speak on the record about confidential military matters said they expected the government to add up to three air warfare destroyers, which can carry up to five times as many missiles as the Hunter-class ships, to the navy’s fleet.
These ships could be built at Adelaide’s Osborne shipyards using the same hull as the Hunter-class frigate, softening the blow for South Australian shipbuilders and British defence firm BAE Systems, which won a 2018 contract to build the navy’s next-generation frigates.
Malinauskas, who travelled to Canberra with a convoy of shipbuilders and union members this week, said Australia would be in a “perilous strategic position” if the government did not guarantee the continuous construction of warships in Adelaide.
The government must build at least six Hunter-class frigates, he said.
Marles on Wednesday told the ABC that the government was determined to develop a surface fleet with enhanced “capability and lethality of assets”.
Responding to reports that he had dressed down senior Defence figures including department secretary Greg Moriarty and Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell at a meeting last year, Marles said: “I make no excuses or apologies for demanding excellence and a culture of excellence in the Department of Defence and in the Australian Defence Force.
“And there is a way to go before we have that culture of excellence in the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force.”
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said: “I think the problem is that there’s a lot of paperwork sitting on Richard Marles’ desk.
“The surface fleet review is yet to be handed down, he’s causing chaos and uncertainty within his department, and he’s causing chaos and uncertainty within the respective jurisdictions which will be impacted by this decision, namely South Australia and Western Australia.
“It’s high time he got on with the job, made the decision, got the money, and cracked on with making this country safe.”
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