Julian Kerr | Sydney
NUSHIP Hobart will be officially commissioned into the RAN at Fleet Base East on 23 September, but only after being granted initial operating release (IOR) three days earlier by Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett.
IOR will confirm that the 7,000 tonne first-of-class guided missile destroyer (DDG) has been assessed as competent to proceed to the demanding operational test and evaluation (T&E) activities that are intended to bring the ship to operational readiness by the end of 2018.
I want us to be the standard others follow
The importance of the T&E program cannot be overemphasised, providing as it will the first opportunity for an all-Navy complement to operate the Hobart’s complex platform and weapons systems at sea and confirm the benefit of the more than $9 billion invested in the three-ship Air Warfare Destroyer program.
Commanding HMAS Hobart will be Captain John Stavridis, 48, who in 1993 joined the second HMAS Hobart, a Perth-class DDG, as a seaman officer trainee.
He subsequently served on the RAN’s two other DDGs prior to a series of increasingly important sea-going and shore posts that included two years with Capability Development Group in the AWD program, Commander Fleet Training, Commander Collective Training, program manager in the Maritime Warfare Program for regeneration of a high-end warfighting capability, and command of the Anzac-class frigates HMA Ships Arunta and Anzac.
Speaking exclusively to ADM, CAPT Stavridis said his mission was clear – to get the ship to Initial Operating Capability (IOC) by the end of 2018.
For Hobart’s 186-strong complement (plus 19 when carrying an MH-60R helicopter) his objective was “a professional crew with a reputation for getting the job done. I want us to be the standard others follow.”
“If there’s an issue, what would the destroyers do? I’m not trying to emulate the Perth class DDGs, but they did a lot of good things in focusing on their warfighting role,” CAPT Stavridis said.
Two days after commissioning, Hobart will spend a week on a buoy and at sea undertaking a mariner skills evaluation conducted by the RAN’s Sea Training Group.
This will be followed by a relatively minor upgrade taking Aegis combat system software to the Australian 1.1 configuration. This is already installed on NUSHIP Brisbane, which is currently undertaking harbour sea trials at ASC in Adelaide.
October will take in firings of Hobart’s 5-inch main gun and its close-in defence weapons systems followed by five weeks alongside in Sydney conducting Aegis warfighting training, then a further fortnight of sea trials.
CO NUSHIP Hobart, Captain John Stavridis (L), on the bridge wing as the ship berths alongside Garden Island for the first time at her home port of Sydney. Credit: Defence
Early 2018 will include first of class flight trials for the MH-60R, however work to modify the hangar and magazines to accommodate the Mk.54 anti-submarine torpedo and AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile will not take place until the ship's first docking period early in 2019. Some changes to support facilities are also involved – the AWD’s original design assumed the onboard helicopter would be the earlier S-70B-2.
An upgrade to the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) will be tested with NUSHIP Brisbane in February followed by a series of unit-ready workups.
July-August will see Hobart alongside for six weeks undertaking advanced Aegis training serials to prepare the ship for US Navy combat system sea certification CSSC trials. These will include firings off San Diego of SM-2 IIIB and Evolved SeaSparrow (ESSM) anti-air missiles.
Successful conclusion of the CSSC trials should clear the way for IOC for Hobart to be declared by the Chief of Navy.
The equivalent capability for second-of-class Brisbane will be called OC2, and Full Operating Capability (FOC) for third-of-class Sydney.
One aspect of Hobart about which there should be no doubt is the ship’s seakeeping ability – CAPT Stavridis disclosed that on her recent voyage from Adelaide to Sydney, she sailed without difficulty through 12 metre waves at 26 knots.