BAE Systems Technology to ‘Future Proof’ Australia’s Future Frigates

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

BAE Systems and the UK Government have committed to transfer cutting-edge technologies and design innovation that will ensure Australian industry can build one of the world’s most formidable and flexible warships to protect the nation’s borders and strategic assets.

If successful on SEA 5000, BAE Systems and the UK Government will transfer more than 5000 ‘work years’ of world-class technical design to Australia, worth $1.5 billion, to support the national shipbuilding endeavour.

The transfer of data and the digital design of one of the world’s most sophisticated ships will support the development of a continuous naval ship building capability in Australia, ensuring that local industry can build the fleet of nine future frigates. It will also ensure they can be upgraded and supported during their decades of service.

The unprecedented transfer of intellectual property will also include all ship parts, materials, systems and sub systems used to build the Type 26 frigate. With this knowledge, Australian industry will gain the know-how needed to both build and optimise the ship over its life, potentially improving its stealth, flexibility and performance with bespoke local innovation and technology.

BAE Systems is proposing the Global Combat Ship-Australia (GCS-A) for its SEA 5000 bid to replace the Anzac class frigates. It is based on the Type 26 Global Combat Ship currently being manufactured in the UK for the Royal Navy.

The GCS-A will provide the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with a world leading submarine hunting capability. This ship will also be an extremely capable multi-role combatant not just in undersea warfare but also across air and surface domains.

A large mission bay will also ensure the ship can meet future operational requirements such as humanitarian responses, and deployments of troops and future unmanned vehicles.

BAE Systems’ Glynn Phillips said:

“The Global Combat Ship-Australia is a mature design that provides both stealth and flexibility to meet the future operational requirements of the Royal Australian Navy.

“The transfer of data and the development of the digital shipyard will be important in the development of an enduring industry that will employ generations of Australians.”