The Adelaide class of six guided missile frigates was constructed in Australia and the United States for service in the Royal Australian Navy.

The Adelaide class was based on the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, but modified for Australian requirements.

They also have significant anti-surface capability, being armed with a 76-millimetre (3.0 in) Mk 75 gun and the Harpoon anti-ship missile (also fired by the Mark 13 launcher), and a pair of triple torpedo tubes for anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

From 2005 onwards, all RAN frigates deploying to the Persian Gulf are fitted with two M2HB .50-calibre machine guns in Mini Typhoon mounts, installed on the aft corners of the hangar roof.

The first three ships were constructed to the Oliver Hazard Perry class' 'short' hull design (Flight I and II), with an identical length for both the main deck and the keel.

[7] Adelaide, Canberra, and Sydney were later upgraded to match the slightly larger ships, and were fitted with the updated sonars and ESM systems of the Flight III design.

[7] In the mid-1990s, Paul Keating's Labor government decided to retain the Adelaide-class frigates instead of replacing them with the more expensive and more labour-intensive, but much more capable Kidd-class destroyers, that the USN was selling off.

The USN had decommissioned 25 "FFG-7 Short" ships via "bargain basement sales to allies or outright retirement, after an average of only 18 years of service".

[14] It was reported at the same time that other nations operating guided missile frigates, including the United States, Canada, Greece, and Turkey were considering similar upgrades.

[12][15] Canberra was subsequently sunk as a dive wreck on 4 October 2009, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) off Ocean Grove, Victoria, in 30 metres (98 ft) of water.

[16] Adelaide was converted into a dive wreck, but plans to scuttle her off Avoca Beach, New South Wales in April 2010 were postponed following protests by resident action groups and a tribunal hearing.

[23][24] The upgraded Adelaide-class frigates were replaced by three new Hobart-class air warfare destroyers, equipped with the Aegis combat system, starting around 2016.