Australia's Naval Shipbuilding Plan, released in May 2017, details an ambitious investment in naval warfare, with over $65.3 billion being set aside for vessel construction and close to another $1 billion for shipyard renovations and work crew retraining.
The plan calls for procuring two landing helicopter docks — aircraft carriers in all but name — plus a dozen new submarines and nine new frigates, a vast expansion of anti-submarine warfare capabilities that follows on the heels of a replacement and upgrading of all three helicopter types used by the service in the last five years, Asia Times noted.
The Canberra-class helicopter landing docks, 27,000-ton vessels with ski jumps that can carry 18 helicopters, were completed in 2015 and are already in service with the RAN.
China's People's Liberation Army-Navy submarine fleet is expected to reach 70 boats by 2020 according to Canberra's 2016 Defense White Paper, which also projected that in the next two decades, half the world's submarines will be operating in the Pacific Ocean. Australia being an island, this makes anti-submarine warfare (ASW) a top priority.
The RAN announced in June it had signed a $25.4 billion contract with British defense firm BAE Systems for nine advanced ASW frigates modified from the British Type 26 frigate, to be known as the Hunter-class frigate once in RAN service. Full production is expected to begin in 2022, to begin replacing their Anzac-class frigates.
…
