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Subject:
Delays continue for Australian FFG upgrade
AMTP10E
7/8/2005 6:18:17 AM
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JANE'S NAVY INTERNATIONAL - JULY 01, 2005
Delays continue for Australian FFG upgrade
Ian Bostock
Additional issues with the upgrade of four Adelaide-class guided missile frigates (FFG) for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have pushed the programme further back and caused the delay of sea trials planned for the first completed ship, HMAS Sydney.
The A$1 billion (US$761 million) project is already around two and a half years behind schedule due to issues that prime contractor ADI Limited continues to address, mostly in the area of systems integration.
ADI has been unable to integrate all elements of the Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System with other combat system-related, undersea warfare and fire-control software. There are also reports of ship stability issues in HMAS Sydney due to the installation of a below-deck vertical-launch system forward.
The delays prompted the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) to negotiate a contract-change proposal with ADI to extend the project's completion date by another 24 months. As a result of internal changes to the DMO's processes and contracting practices, the Australian Department of Defence has accepted a share of the responsibility for the delays.
Acceptance of HMAS Sydney back into RAN service is now not expected until 2006. Until the ship successfully meets the trials programme criteria and is accepted back into service, the RAN will not release another FFG for ADI to begin work on.
Complicating the issue is the recent discovery of hull cracking in several of the FFGs. Because of the implications for sea worthiness, sea trials with HMAS Sydney cannot commence until repairs are made.
As the cracking is not related to the upgrade work being carried out by ADI, the RAN will meet the costs associated with repairs. These will be undertaken by ADI at its Garden Island facility.
ADI had earlier proposed to the DMO a provisional acceptance of HMAS Sydney in late August this year. However, it will now, by its own admission, not be able to meet this deadline, the director of ADI's naval business group Ali Baghaei told JNI in early June. It is understood that a revised timetable to resolve the remaining software issues and for contractor sea trials will be released around this time.
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There is a real chance that SYDNEY will never re-enter front line service again. |
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