Australian Navy’s third AWD launched
The Australian Navy’s third and final Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD), the future HMAS Sydney, has been launched at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia, Navantia announced on 19 May.
The new vessel will join the second AWD, Brisbane, alongside the wharf at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.
All the three AWD vessels – Hobart, Brisbane and Sydney – are capable of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) as well as air-defence capabilities against both aircraft and cruise missile threats.
Michael Ward, managing director at Raytheon Australia, said that the vessels contain Australia’s ‘most advanced and complex’ combat system, delivered on time and on budget.
‘The AWD combat system integration activities represent some of the most advanced and complex engineering and project management skills in this country,’ he added.
More from Naval Warfare
-
![SOF Week 2026: US Navy USV completes record eight-day autonomous mission]()
SOF Week 2026: US Navy USV completes record eight-day autonomous mission
The MARTAC T38 Devil Ray USV has set a new endurance benchmark as the US Navy pushes deeper into autonomous maritime warfare.
-
![UK Royal Navy dock build question remains open ahead of Programme Euston tender]()
UK Royal Navy dock build question remains open ahead of Programme Euston tender
The UK MoD’s Programme Euston floating dry dock tender has exposed a question about the UK’s naval industrial base: does Britain still have the depth to sustain its own deterrent without foreign intervention.
-
![A closer look at the US Navy’s $268 billion investment in shipbuilding by 2031]()
A closer look at the US Navy’s $268 billion investment in shipbuilding by 2031
The recently released USN 2026 Shipbuilding Plan anticipates the procurement of 185 crewed and uncrewed platforms in the next five years.
-
![SAHA 2026: Turkey markets modular undersea systems to European buyers]()
SAHA 2026: Turkey markets modular undersea systems to European buyers
Turkey’s defence industry is pushing a class of platform and building an entire philosophy of cost-imposition around it.
-
![STM’s European wins strengthen Turkey’s naval credibility on the continent]()
STM’s European wins strengthen Turkey’s naval credibility on the continent
Turkish defence and engineering company STM is attempting to challenge Europe’s established naval primes by winning contracts from Portugal to Pakistan – with a business model built on working in any shipyard in the world.
