Australia welcomes third and final Air Warfare Destroyer
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) commissioned its third Air Warfare Destroyer, HMAS Sydney, in a ceremony in Jervis Bay off the Australian coast on 18 May.
The commissioning of the 7,000t destroyer was attended by VAdm Michael Noonan, Chief of Navy; and RAdm Jonathan Mead, Commander of the Australian Fleet.
The new 146.7m-long destroyer built under Project Sea 4000 is the fifth Australian warship to carry this name.
When the vessels were ordered in October 2007, it was expected that the three ships in the class would be commissioned from 2014-16. This means a total delay of around
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