Work on the assembly of Australia's biggest heavy lift crane will soon be the most visible sign of progress on Australia's $8 billion Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program, but this is just one element of a complex undertaking which as of December was running on schedule and on budget.

The LHD has the potential to be the poster project of the military off the shelf (MOTS) procurement model.

The SEA 1000 Project Team has a long road ahead of it.

An increased emphasis on expeditionary warfare has renewed the focus on the ability of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to provide mine countermeasures (MCM) support to task groups deployed well beyond Australian shores.

Potential players in the RAN's Future Submarine project, Sea 1000, are already jockeying for positional advantage, and none more so than the contenders to build the new boats' crucial combat system.

While the high-priority task of replacing the tactical component of their combat system with the US-sourced AN/BYG-1 tactical C2 system continues, various other enhancements and updates have been performed and more are planned, as part of the ongoing program of maintaining and improving the Collins class submarines.