Australia needs three more air warfare destroyers because 'they’ve got a lot of punch and they are affordable' says former shipbuilder

Australia’s former chief naval shipbuilder has called on the government to acquire three more missile-laden air warfare destroyers to help counter China’s naval build-up.

Air Warfare Destroyer HMAS Sydney.

Australia’s former chief naval shipbuilder has called on the Albanese government to acquire three more missile-laden air warfare destroyers to help counter the “incredible rate” of China’s naval build-up.

Warren King, the former head of the old Defence Materiel ­Organisation who oversaw the building of the navy’s three Hobart-class ADWs, said the new warships should be a part of the federal government’s Defence Strategic Review to be released next month.

Mr King said three more AWDs would rapidly increase the firepower of the navy at a time when Defence Minister Richard Marles has called for more long-range strike power, or “impactful projection”, in the Australian ­Defence Force.

The acquisition of three new AWDs is one of the key options being considered by the government as part of a far-reaching defence shake-up which is expected to include long-range missiles, sea mines, and unmanned underwater vehicles, more F-35 fighters and possibly a new fleet of navy corvettes.

The DSR will be released next month following this month’s AUKUS submarine plan which committed Australia to the $368bn acquisition of US Virginia-class submarines and home-built UK-designed AUKUS sub­marines over the next 30 years.

Mr King said the acquisition of three more AWDs was the quickest and cheapest way for the government to boost its strike power at a time when China’s firepower was rapidly growing.

“The air warfare destroyers have proved to be an admirable platform, they are efficient, they’ve got a lot of punch and they are affordable. We know how capable they are and we’ve got a navy that knows how to use them,” he said.

The Hobart-class AWDs carry 48 missile cells each, so three more boats would add 114 missile cells to the navy’s strike power.

Mr King said the deteriorating strategic situation in the region meant that Australia needed a fleet of six AWDs rather than the current three.

“The unsettled strategic outlook makes it much more im­perative,” he said. “China is strengthening its surface and ­subsurface capabilities all the time at incredible rates.”

Mr King oversaw the early construction of the navy’s three Hobart-class AWDs from 2009 until 2017 before becoming chair of the AWD’s Spanish designer, Navantia Australia, until 2020.

Navantia has told the government that it could build three new Hobart-class boats in Spain at $2bn per ship, and deliver all three warships by 2030. It says it could also build the warships in Adelaide at a slightly higher cost with a slightly longer delivery time.

However, any decision to build the Navantia-designed AWDs in Adelaide would interfere with the $45bn plan to build nine British-designed Hunter-class frigates which already occupies the Osborne facility where the AWDs would be built.

Mr King said that because of this potential clash, it would make more sense to build three new Hobart-class AWDs in Spain.

There is speculation that the government may use the DSR to reduce the order of the Hunter-class frigates, which are designed to specialise in anti-submarine warfare but which lack firepower.

The builder of the frigates, BAE Systems, has offered its own alternative option of building just six Hunter-class frigates as well as three BAE-designed AWDs at Osborne.