On May 26, the Ministers for Defence and Defence Materiel, Stephen Smith and Jason Clare, unveiled a fundamental re-working of the construction program for the Navy’s Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers.
The technical difficulties and project delays exposed by their announcement mean the entire project has shifted 12 months to the right; with the first ship, HMAS Hobart, now to be delivered in 2015 – assuming nothing else goes wrong which could impact on the schedule.
If the project changes had not been announced the schedule could have slipped by a further 12 months, meaning a two-year delay in a construction program which began only 18 months ago.
The schedule for the construction phase of the AWD Project, Sea 4000, has been slipping gradually since 2009.
The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Hobart-class was held on schedule in Adelaide in December 2008, design data was delivered on schedule from equipment suppliers and sub-contractors and the first batch of an eventual 10,000 production drawings were delivered to the AWD Alliance in Adelaide on time in early-2009, though detail design of the final module for the first ship wasn’t expected to be completed until this year.
In May 2009 the then-minister for defence, Joel Fitzgibbon, announced that Forgacs in Newcastle and AIMTEK in Cairns (trading under the long-established NQEA brand name) were the preferred tenders for the estimated $450 million contract to build and fit out 66 hull and superstructure for the three ships.
AIMTEK was to manufacture 36 blocks over five years and Forgacs would build 30.
ASC Shipbuilder would construct only the 27 core modules for each ship, including the critical ‘Aegis Tower’ containing the Aegis radar antennas and their wave guides. Contracts were scheduled to be signed later that year.
The announcement of the block sub-contractors was expected much earlier in 2009 and the delay showed tender evaluations had proved harder then expected.
The choice of AIMTEK in preference to BAE Systems at Williamstown, given the latter’s experience of building and consolidating blocks for the Anzac frigates, was widely regarded as counter-intuitive.
It was no surprise, though still something of a relief to many in Defence and industry, when AIMTEK proved unable to meet its obligations to provide financial guarantees and the work was shifted to Williamstown.
This extended process put module construction slightly behind the planned program, but reportedly didn’t affect the project schedule.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems’ work share has been reduced.
When the problems with that first hull unit were revealed late last year the AWD Alliance re-allocated some of BAE Systems’ work.
Of the 12 blocks on each ship which the company was originally to fabricate, three will now be fabricated by Forgacs.
However, in their joint statement the two Ministers made it clear Williamstown was under much greater pressure then originally thought.
“The Melbourne BAE Systems shipyard remains stretched, working on two major projects at the same time – steel blocks for the Air Warfare Destroyers and the superstructure and integration of the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships,” the Ministers said.
“The Government, the AWD Alliance and BAE Systems take the schedule for both these important projects extremely seriously.
In February 2011, BAE Systems advised the AWD Alliance of potential schedule delays.
Over the last few months, the AWD Alliance and BAE Systems have been working closely to develop options to improve the production program.
In March, the Minister for Defence met with Guy Griffiths, the Group Managing Director - International of BAE Systems UK, in London to discuss this project.
The Minister for Defence Materiel has also met with the CEO of BAE Australia, Jim McDowell, on a number of occasions about this project.
Earlier this month BAE Systems presented the AWD Alliance with a plan to adjust its workload on the AWD Project.
Construction of up to 13 blocks for the first two ships will now be reallocated between Adelaide, Melbourne and Newcastle.
BAE will complete the structural steel and initial outfitting work on the seven steel blocks it is currently working on, as well as all its work on the 14 blocks for the superstructure of the LHDs and the subsequent integration work.
Up to five of the AWD blocks will be reallocated to Navantia in Ferrol.
ADM understands these will be keel blocks for the first two ships: these are the most challenging to fabricate, requiring the heavy steel plate of the ship’s bottom to be curved and shaped very precisely.
ADM understands the production difficulties have been compounded by data issues with the engineering drawings that Navantia is delivering to the AWD Alliance and the two block builders from which the blocks are fabricated.
ADM has been told the drawings don’t incorporate changes to construction methods and the experience, know-how and ‘tricks of the trade’ accumulated by Navantia’s dockyard workforce and supervisors at Ferrol where the company has built four F-100s with a fifth under construction.