Build milestone in multibillion-dollar Hunter frigate project
The federal defence industry minister is in town to celebrate a shipbuilding milestone at Osborne today.
A keel-laying ceremony is being held this morning for the first Hunter-class frigate in the federal government’s $27 billion shipbuilding project.
Federal Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, Premier Peter Malinsuaks and SA Defence and Space Industries Minister Chris Picton are at Osborne on Monday morning to mark what they say is a major shipbuilding milestone.
The ceremony honours a centuries-old naval tradition, which connects two pieces of keel with a coin placed beneath it to grant good luck to the vessel during its construction and life at sea.
“Today’s milestone is a vital step forward for the Australian workers building these ships, the men and women who will serve on them, and our nation’s future maritime security,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said.
“The laying of the keel for the first Hunter-class frigate demonstrates tangible progress in the delivery of a more capable, lethal and resilient surface combatant fleet for Australia.”
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Defence giant BAE Systems is putting together the ships under a Commonwealth Government contract, expected to deliver the fleet by 2032.
BAE won the contract in 2018, which also led to the $368 billion AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine project underway at a neighbouring facility.
More than 2500 South Australians are working on the project, Malinauskas said, with more jobs to come.
“BAE have almost 600 tradespeople now working on this project — some of them young people trained up at our remarkable Technical Colleges, and now locked into well paid, interesting lifelong careers. And there’s still AUKUS to come,” Malinauskas said.
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“Recruiting the workforce for these tasks represents a massive challenge. But it is also a massive opportunity for our state, and we are working hand in hand with the Albanese Government to ensure we can capitalise on it.”
The ships are being build like a Lego set, BAE Systems’ build director told InDaily last year.
One ship is made up of 78 units, which form 28 ‘blocks’ that were then put together to form one ship.
Construction of 20 of the first ship’s 22 blocks is already underway, with the Royal Australian Navy expected to receive the first Hunter-class frigate in the early 2030s.
The warships are some of the most advanced of their kind. It incorporates Australian-developed tech and interfaces, including ones made by Saab Australia, and is modified to operate the MH-60R Seahawk Romeo helicopter.
Weapons on the ship include torpedoes, guns, missiles, and precision kill weapon systems.
First steel was cut in mid-2024, and workers had started work on 41 of the 78 units since then. The frigates would be made of 80 per cent Australian steel – 5000 tonnes of it per ship.
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