Australian general purpose frigate program

In February 2024, the Australian Government announced a program to acquire eleven general purpose frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). These warships arose from the Surface Fleet Review, and along with the significantly larger Hunter-class frigates, will replace the Anzac-class frigates.

The new general purpose frigates are intended to be 'Tier 2' vessels that are less expensive and capable than the Hunter-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers. They will be used to escort other vessels, provide air defence and conduct attacks against surface targets. Four suitable designs were identified by an independent panel and the government intends to select a design in 2025 and commence construction of the ships in 2026. Three of the frigates are planned to be built overseas and the others will be built in Australia.

Planning
The 2023 Australian Defence Strategic Review raised concerns over the plans to acquire nine Hunter-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. The review also noted that other navies were tending to build larger numbers of smaller warships. In response, the Australian Government commissioned an independent review of the structure of the RAN's future surface fleet. The review panel was led by the retired United States Navy Vice Admiral William Hilarides and also included the retired Australian public servant Rosemary Huxtable and the retired Australian Vice Admiral Stuart Mayer. The Surface Fleet Review and the government's response to it were released on 20 February 2024. Among a range of other recommendations, the panel called for the acquisition of "at least seven, and optimally 11, Tier 2 ships, optimised for undersea warfare, to operate both independently and in conjunction with the Tier 1 ships to secure maritime trade routes, northern approaches and escort military assets". They noted that the ships should be capable of operating a helicopter, be able to provide air defence "through a limited number of point and self-defence systems" and have the ability to attack targets on the land. Due to the deteriorating material condition of the Anzac-class frigates, the panel also recommended that the new ships be rapidly acquired.

The Australian Government accepted these recommendations, and announced as part of its response that eleven general purpose frigates would be built in order to "address the risk presented by an ageing and increasingly fragile surface combatant fleet". The government also agreed to reduce the number of Hunter-class frigates to be acquired from nine to six and to build six large optionally crewed surface vessels which will support the crewed warships. This will result in a fleet made up of nine 'Tier 1' warships (six Hunter-class frigates and three Hobart-class destroyers), with the general purpose frigates being among the navy's less capable 'Tier 2' warships.

In order to bring the general purpose frigates into service as quickly as possible, the government intends for the first three ships in the class to be built overseas, with the remainder being constructed at the Australian Marine Complex in Western Australia. Under the plans announced in February 2024, the government will select a design for the new frigates in 2025 and construction will begin in 2026. The first of the ships is planned to enter service by 2030. In April 2024 the government committed between $A7 billion and $A10 billion between the 2024–25 and 2033–34 financial years for the general purpose frigates, though at this stage the funding was unapproved. As of mid-2024 it was expected that the ships would cost $A5.5 billion to 8.5 billion and sustaining them would require $1.5 billion out to 2033-34.

Possible designs
The independent review identified four designs as "combatant exemplars" and recommended that they "should form the basis of a deliberate selection process". The government agreed to this. All four of these designs were under construction at the time for foreign navies.

The designs are the:
 * Spanish ALFA3000
 * South Korean Daegu class FFX Batch II or Batch III
 * German MEKO A-200
 * Japanese Mogami 30FFM

Based on these designs, it is likely that the general purpose frigates will have a displacement of between 3,000 and 5,000 tonnes. This is similar to the Anzac class, which have a displacement of 3,600 tonnes, and much smaller than the Hunter class which will displace 10,000 tonnes. The frigates will have at least 16 vertically launched missile cells, twice as many as the Anzac class.

Selection
On 24 May 2024 the Department of Defence sent five shipbuilders an 'approach to market' asking them to provide information on their proposed designs and how the frigates would be built for the RAN. The companies were asked to provide this information within three weeks. This covered the first three ships in the intended class only. The government intends to conduct a separate process to ask the companies for plans to build the remaining ships in Australia. The companies that were approached were Hanwha Ocean, Hyundai, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Navantia and TKMS.

As part of the approach to market, it was specified that the designs that are submitted must be based closely on ships that are currently in service with foreign navies. The only changes that the Department of Defence will accept are to replace obsolete equipment or meet Australian safety standards. The project office is required to seek agreement from the National Security Cabinet for all changes that deviate from foreign designs. The Chief of Navy has not been asked by the government to propose modifications but has responsibility for ensuring that the final design meets the necessary safety standards. As a result, the ships will not be fitted with radars produced by the Australian company CEA Technologies, despite the Australian government being the majority owner of the firm.

After the proposals are received in mid-2024, the project office will then evaluate each proposal's viability. Those which are judged to be viable will be further evaluated and the final design is intended to be selected in late 2024. This stage of the project and subsequent stages are intended to be run as a standard RAN acquisition program.

Commentary
Australian Financial Review journalist Andrew Tillet has written that the ALFA3000 and Mogami 30FFM designs best meet the government's requirements. He argues that this is because the two shipbuilders (Navantia and Mitsubishi respectively) have experience integrating the American Aegis Combat System and American missiles. Writing in the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, journalist Kym Bergmann argued that the panel had made a mistake by recommending both the Daegu class FFX Batch II and Batch III, as the two designs are quite different, and that the government was also mistaken in not identifying this error at the time it developed its response to the review. He argued that the Batch III is the only one of the two designs that meets the panel's specifications. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Euan Graham suggested in February 2024 that New Zealand might join the frigate program in order to replace the Royal New Zealand Navy's pair of Anzac-class frigates.

Following the approach to market, Michael Shoebridge from the defence consulting firm Strategic Analysis Australia raised concerns about the project's management. He believes that rushing the selection of the ships could cause problems later in the project and that the reluctance to accept design changes might mean that the frigates do not meet the RAN's safety standards.