Australian Surface Fleet Review

It considered and recommended actions the RAN needed to take to solidify Australia's war-fighting capabilities on the maritime front.

[4] In 2021, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia would cancel its contract with the French Naval Group for 12 Attack-class conventionally-powered submarines for the SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered design in collaboration with the UK and US.

[14] They are intended to form part of a 'tier 2' fleet: less expensive than their 'tier 1' counterparts whilst still retaining adequate firepower, especially when it comes to Vertical launching system (VLS) cells.

The GPFs will gradually replace the Anzac frigates as they come out of service, and the first batch is to be built in an accelerated manner overseas, and later transition to Henderson Naval Base for construction.

The intended role of these vessels is to act as crewed missile boats; they will have 32 vertical-launch cells, but few close-in weapons.

[23] The government has also agreed to put in place a framework that would allow for all Cape-class vessels to be under the overall responsibility of the Department of Defence, yet maintenance would be funded by the appropriate organisation (ABF or Navy).

[26] According to the SIPRI arms transfers database, Australia placed an order for an unknown quantity of the Block-1A NSMs with delivery to begin in 2024.

[29] The first ship of the Hunter-class frigate program, HMAS Hunter, had its steel cut on 21 June 2024 and is expected to be launched in 2029-30, and commissioned in 2034.

[33] In December 2024, Australia for the first time fired a Tomahawk cruise missile off the coast of the United States using the ship HMAS Brisbane, striking a test range in California successfully.