Vessels of the Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy today consists of 48 commissioned vessels manned by 14,300 men and women in addition to 8,400 reservists. These 48 vessels up of eight ship classes and three individual ships, plus two non-commissioned vessels.

Six modified Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were acquired by Australia from 1978 to 1992, and these entered service as the Adelaide-class frigates. Of the six ships, FFG 04 Darwin, FFG 05 Melbourne and FFG 06 Newcastle are still in service. These frigates have a full displacement of 4,100 ton. Armaments includes a 76mm gun, a 20mm CIWS, a MK-13 missile launcher with a 40 round magazine, and a 8-cell vertical missile launcher. The helicopter deck could handle a pair of S-70B Seahawk antisubmarine helicopters.

In the late 1980s, Australia and New Zealand collaborated in acquiring ten modified MEKO-200 frigates, the eight Australian and two Kiwi ships were all built in Adelaide to keep the local shipbuilding industry alive, which caused a great deal of controversy. Nevertheless the ANZAC-class frigates are Australia's best surface combatants. Displacing 3,500 tons, they are armed with a 127mm gun, an 8-cell vertical launcher and torpedo tubes. Upgrades in 2007 introduced two 4-cell harpoon launchers and a new phased array radar to guide the ESSM missiles.

Australia purchased a single Bay-class landing ship in 2006 from Britain. The 16,000 ton HMAS Choule could carry 24 tanks and 200 tons of dry cargo. However it is completely unarmed, therefore cannot be used in high-threat environments.

Designed in Sweden and built in Adelaide, the six Collins-class submarines each displaces 3,400 tons and carry 22 torpedos or harpoon missiles. Ongoing technical problems and a lack of submariners means only two out of six subs could operate at any given time. The six Collins-class are expected to be replaced by twelve Blackfin Barracuda class by 2025. These will also be built in Adelaide much to the anger of the general public.

HMAS Success is a replenishment oiler which entered service in 1986. Fitted with a single helicopter hangar and fueling rigs able to transfer 9,000 tons of fuel.

Originally built as a civilian tanker, Australia spent 60 million AUD and converted the korean-built hull to HMAS Sirius. It's civilian origin results in a low speed and a lack of defensive firepower.

The Leeuwin class is a two-ship class of hydrographic survey vessels, not sure why this thing is in the navy...

The Paluma class motor launch are another four hydrographic survey boats!? Boring!

The 13 Armidale-class patrol boats bear the burden of border security duties. They each carry a 25mm gun and displace 300 ton. Due to shoddy construction, design defects and the freqeunt calls to intercept asylum seekers, the Armidale-class have suffered a series of problems resulting in a fleet-wide refit.

Minesweeping duties are carried out by the four Huon-class minehunters. They displace 700 tons and are armed with two mine disposal drones.

With the request for a 25,000+ton Landing Helicopter Deck, Australia finally accepted that its local shipbuilding industry couldn't build everything no matter how much money you throw at it. The pair of Canberra-class LHDs are designed to carry up to 100 vehicles and 8 helicopters, the ski-ramp built for Harrier jump-jets was not removed since Spanish shipbuilders estimated it would cost more to redesign the interior than to slice it off. HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide are designed to support force-projection operations as encountered during the East Timor crisis in 1999.

Citing the growing military capability of Asian countries, especially increased tension with indonesia and the launch of advanced surface combatants from China, Australia began the construction of three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers in 2009. These 7,000 ton warships are built around the Aegis combat system and a 48-cell vertical missile launcher. Once again, the decision to build ships to support local industries (who already receive huge subsidies) have caused an outrage. A similar 7,000 ton AWD could be built by China for 580 million or by Spain 600 million USD (052D or the F-100 respectively), meanwhile the Hobard-class will cost $2 billion USD each. Domestic politics getting in the way of defense again.

Helicopter tax....thanks for reading