Future frigates’ decision on target for defence aims

The Turnbull government has made the right decision in opting for the AEGIS combat system for the future frigates. This system will provide substantial missile defence capability for our ships.

AEGIS makes enormous operational sense. It is the same combat system our three air warfare destroyers will use, which means real benefits of interoperability across our different ships.

It is also very widely used by the US Navy, which makes interoperability with the Americans so much easier. That is an important consideration in providing for Australian national security.

The AEGIS system is also the most technically advanced, and provides a very good glide path for future technical upgrade.

This is one of the key benefits in going with a major American system. If the Yanks are heavily invested in it, you can guarantee it will receive massive future investment to keep it at the leading edge of defence technology.

Other close military friends of ours, especially the Japanese, also use AEGIS.

Further, announcing the system now enables the manufacture of whichever frigate we choose to have in mind more precise design requirements.

However, it is slightly odd that the government flagged the threat of North Korean missiles in the announcement and associated press briefings. The frigates will not be equipped with missile defence that could tackle North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Like our AWDs, they will be equipped with missile defence systems that can tackle theatre-level threats, mainly shorter- range missiles fired at the frigates themselves.

Our AWDs and frigates were always going to have some theatre missile capability, necessary for any modern navy up against any other modern navy.

Planning for this predates the North Korean missile crises.

And while it is absolutely vital our frigates have the best theatre missile defence possible, this should not detract from the central role of anti-submarine warfare our frigates will play.

As Defence Minister Marise Payne said yesterday, our region will soon host fully half the world’s submarines.

There is intense underwater military competition in our region. That is why we need more submarines and more capable submarines. And we need these capabilities whether North Korea is calm or crazy.