Anzac class FFH (MEKO 200 ANZ class)

HMAS Warramunga showing off her new Harpoon Block II Surface to Surface Missile (SSM) canisters. [Royal Australian Navy]

Class

Name	No.	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned
Anzac	150	Transfield, Williamstown	6 November 1993	16 September 1994	18 May 1996
Arunta	151	Transfield, Williamstown	22 July 1995	28 June 1996	12 December 1998
Warramunga	152	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	26 July 1997	23 May 1998	28 March 2001
Stuart	153	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	25 July 1998	17 April 1999	17 April 2002
Parramatta	154	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	4 June 1999	17 June 2000	4 October 2003
Ballarat	155	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	4 August 2000	25 May 2002	26 June 2004
Toowoomba	156	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	26 July 2002	16 May 2003	(Septeber 2005)
Perth	157	Tenix Defence Systems, Williamstown	24 July 2003	20 March 2004	(July 2006)

Specifications

General

Displacement, tons: 3,600 full load

Dimensions, feet (metres): 387.1 over all; 357.6 water line x 48.6 x 14.3 (118; 109 x 14.8 x 4.35)

Main machinery: CODOG: 1 General Electric LM 2500 gas turbines developing 30,172 hp (22.5MW) sustained; 2 MTU 12V 1163 TB83 diesels developing 8,840 hp(m) (6.5 MW) sustained; 2 shafts, controlled pitch propellers

Speed, knots: 27

Range, miles: 6,000 at 18 knots

Compliment: 174 (including 24 officers)

Armament

Missiles:

2 Mk.141 octuple system:

SSM: 8 McDonnell Douglas RGM 84(?D?) Harpoon Block II (currently only in 152, being retrofitted to other units)

1 Lockheed-Martin 8-cell Mk.41 Mod.5 VLS:

SAM: 8 Raytheon RIM-7P Sea Sparrow (150 and 151 only) or 32 RIM 162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), quadpacked [ESSM to be retrofitted to 150 and 151]

[A Point Defence Missile System (PDMS) is to be fitted, it is believed that a pair of 6-round SADRAL launchers for MBDA Mistral 2 is the current preferred system]

Guns:

1 United Defence 5 in (127 mm)/54/62 cal Mk.45 Mod.2; dual purpose

4-12.7 mm Machine Guns

Torpedoes:

6-324 mm Mk.32 tubes (2 triple); Honeywell Mk.46 Mod.5; [Mk.46 to be supplemented and eventually replaced by MU90]

Countermeasures

Decoys: 2 G & D Aircraft SRBOC Mk.36 Mod.1; fixed 6-barreled decoy launcher for SRBOC and NATO Sea Gnat

4 British Aerospace Nulka; 4 round launchers; expendable hovering off-board decoys

FEL SLQ-25A; towed torpedo decoy

ESM/ECM: Racal modified Spectre A; radar intercept [Spectra A to be replaced by Thales Centaur]

Telefunken PST-1720 Telegon 10; communications intercept

Electronics

Radar:

Air search: Raytheon SPS-49(V)8 ANZ; C-band

Air/surface search: Ericsson Sea Giraffe; G/H-band

Navigation: Atlas Elektronic 9600 ARPA; I-band

Fire Control: CelsiusTech 9LV 453; J-band [To be replaced by CEA FAR; (?X?)-band]

IFF: Cossor AIMSMk.XII

Sonar:

Hull mounted: Thomson Sinatra Spherion B Mod.5; active medium-frequency search and attack

Thomson Marconi TMS 5424 Petrel high-frequency mine avoidance

[Provisions for the fitting of a towed array sonar, although no funding provisions exists for such equipment at the present time]

Optronics:

CelsiusTech 9LV 453 Mk.3 optronics director

Combat Data Systems:

CelsiusTech 9LV 453 Mk.3 [157 to have Mk.3E, and Mk.3E to be retrofitted to older units]

Raytheon CW Mk.73 Mod.1 for RIM-7P [CEA SSCWI to be fitted for ESSM]

OE-2 STACOM; Link 11

Helicopters: 1 Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk [or Kaman SH-2G(A) Seasprite when they finally become available]

Comments

General

As one might guess from the name, the Anzac class frigates are indeed a result of a joint project between us and our trans-Tasman neighbours. A total of ten, virtually identical, units were built in modules by a number of yards, most in Australia one in New Zealand, and assembled in Melbourne. The RAN received 8 ships and the RNZN received 2 (the 2^nd and 4^th in the production run).

As with some other ship currently in the RAN, the Anzac class are the result of a flawed set of procurement imperatives. As will be discussed later, they envisaged essentially as overgrown Offshore Patrol Vessels, and as such were conceived horribly underarmed. As a result of their heritage, the first units commissioned without any ability to persecute surface contacts other than the main gun, and without any meaningful anti-air capability. As it is, they still don’t have a dedicated helicopter, although that can be blamed on a separate program failure. Luckily, the ships were designed with the ability to mount substantially more equipment than was originally fitted, and this is being done relatively briskly.

In service the Anzac class are used as patrol frigates, and when the Harpoon SSMs are fitted and their helicopter finally arrives they will be a potent anti-ship asset, especially in the littoral environment. Their main gun also gives them a useful ability to persecute targets ashore in support of ground forces (this is also true, although to a lesser extent, of the Harpoon missiles). Interestingly, the main gun was used by HMAS Anzac in support of British Royal Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which makes her the only ship currently in RAN service to fire in anger.

With upgrades the class will develop a meaningful point defence capability. This will be through two layers of missiles (ESSM and probably Mistral 2) guided most probably be a modern active phased-array radar (the CEA FAR). The Anzacs could also have a useful anti-submarine function if they are ever fitted with a towed array sonar, although there is no plan to do so at the moment.

Upgrades

Upgrades to the baseline Anzac class frigate fall under several programs, and are essential for turning these ships into fully useful members of the fleet. Some upgrades were planned as part of the initial project planning. This is particularly true of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). Because the missile would not be available for the commissioning of the first two vessels, they had to make do with the older NATO Sea Sparrow missile. From HMAS Warramunga onwards, ESSM have been carried from build, but the intention was always to refit the older vessels to the same standard. The major upgrade is the replacement of the CW Mk.73 Mod.1 with the Australian developed and manufactured CEA SSCWI. The SSCWI offers roughly similar functionality to the CW Mk.73 (the major difference being the ability to control ESSM), but is a more advanced solid-state design which is substantially more reliable. Interestingly enough, the RAN is the first of the 10 navies in the ESSM program to declare its ESSM capability in-service, a notable achievement.

It was originally envisaged, prior to Anzac’s commissioning, that all the class would go through the so called Weapons Improvement Programme (WIP). This plan was shelved as the price of the project rose. For a while, therefore, there was few plans for major upgrades in the early service life of the ships.

With the release of the 2000 Defence White Paper, upgrades were back on the cards. One of the stated aims of the White Paper as it related to the RAN, was to improve anti-missile capabilities across the fleet. For the Anzac’s this was already partially in hand with the arrival of the ESSM into service, but it was decide that more needed to be done. Consequently project SEA 1448 Anzac ASMD (Anti-Ship Missile Defence) Upgrade was born. There are two essential planks to the ASMD being proposed, a new inner layer weapons system, and a new fire control radar to make better use of the ESSM. Given the engagement envelope of the ESSM it was presumed by most (myself included) that the Government would opt to add the proven, already in RAN service, Vulcan Phalanx CIWS as a last ditch missile defence system. Indeed the RNZN Anzacs already have a Phalanx mounted aft, at rear end of the hanger roof. The pundits, myself included, were wrong. As of 2003 the Department of Defence instead expressed a preference for a missile based system, an Point Defence Missile System (PDMS). Further they expressed a preference for the French Sadral system firing Mistral 2 missiles. This decision didn’t make a whole lot of sense to those of us yet to be enlightened by behind-the-scenes work on the project. An PDMS makes a certain amount of sense, but Mistral does not. There are a variety of PDMS options available, the best by virtually any means of measurement being the American-German RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) system. Compared to the Sadral system the RAM is: longer ranged, has a superior seeker, is being produced in larger numbers (i.e. for the USN and Kiegermarine), and can be self contained (in the SeaRAM variant, itself a modification of the Vulcan Phalanx system). The big advantage of SADRAL is that it is cheaper for initial purchase… The fundamental effectiveness of the system remains to be seen, but is still an improvement over nothing. At the moment plans call for the instillation of a pair of 6 round launchers at the after end of the hanger (see image of one potential installation, made by AMT).

The second component of SEA 1448 is investigating the fitting of a new active phased array fire control radar, the Australian designed and manufactured CEA FAR. To this end HMAS Arunta was fitted with a single FAR panel for tests during 2003, although this image from AMT would seem to suggest that there were provisions for more (from the pictures, it would appear that 6 is the preferred number). Reports from the test were positive, although not gushingly so. It is expected to fit the completed system to ships between 2008 and 2010. Options for instillation include a multi-panel version of the trial installation, or mounting them on the mast (see this AMT generated CAD for one such option). To make full use of the new radar and other systems being integrated into the class, the CelsiusTech 9LV 453 Mk.3 consols are being replaced by the Mk.3E standard COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) consols, which are ergonomically better and will improve processing speeds.

The other major upgrade announced for the Anzacs in the 2000 White Paper was the fitting of anti-ship missiles (SSM). The logical choice was the Boeing Harpoon II system, which has a useful secondary land attack capability. The contract for 64 missiles (i.e. 8 missiles for the 8 Anzac class, with no war stocks) was signed in late 2002. HMAS Warrmunga is the first ship so fitted, during a scheduled refit period in late 2004, and others will follow. Interestingly the two Mk.141 launchers have been placed forward of and below the bridge (a very British place to put them…), while they have been mounted behind the bridge (and at least two decks higher up) in other MEKO 200 ships. Officially this has been explained as a measure to improve stability in the class which is apparently a cause for concern. It is possible that this concern is precautionary given the likely inclusion in the near future of the CEA FAR instillation. Otherwise this concern bodes badly for the class, as top weight growth is inevitable as part of SEA 1448. Some comment has been raised as a result of the first photos of the instillation that the cabling has been poorly done, being exposed and unarmoured (which poses reliability and damage control problems). It is unclear as to whether these problems have been either: a). imagined, b). rectified. It is also possible that the photos did not show the final instillation and the concerns are therefore invalid.

Finally as with the Adelaides, the Anzacs will be fitted with the Thomson Marconi TMS 5424 Petrel mine avoidance sonar, and have space and weight provisions for a towed array sonar. Also as with the FFGs, there are currently no plans to fit a towed array sonar, which is disappointing given the growing submarine forces to Australia’s immediate North (one of the few regions in the world where the submarine threat is growing).

In the future there are a number of further options. The design has weight and space margins exist to fit another 8-cell VLS next to the existing system. The instillation of this extra VLS would make sense if the RAN decides to use the upgraded Anzacs as ‘goal-keepers’ for the yet to enter service LHDs instead of an AWD/FFG. The goal-keeper was a British innovation whereby an important ship with poor air-point-defence is guarded by a ship with good point-defence AA which holds position very close to it’s charge. In this role the upgraded Anzac makes better sense than an AWD/FFG, as it’s radar instillation is tailored to close range ASMD, and the PDMS has range to keep another ship within the ‘last-ditch’ engagement envelope (unlike the CIWS of the FFG). The additional 8 VLS cells would give another 32 ESSM, which is important given the goal-keeper doctrine which emphasises the saturation of any potential threat, and thus the extra missiles would be of great use. NB: At the moment no plans exist for this instillation.