Rohde and Schwarz Australia has been selected as the preferred supplier for the radio equipment suite to equip the Royal Australian Navy's Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs).
The approximately $30 million comms procurement is already included in the budget, through the $8 billion AWD Program in Defence’s Approved Major Capital Investment Program.
The AWD project is the biggest Defence procurement ever undertaken in Australia, and is expected to create 3,000 jobs over the life of the project.
HMAS Hobart is the first of three AWDs to be built, and is currently under construction at three shipyards across the country – ASC in Adelaide, BAE Systems in Melbourne and Forgacs in Newcastle.
The first of the warships is expected to be completed by 2014 and will significantly strengthen the RAN.