BAE offers Australia guided missile variant of Hunter-class frigate
The Hunter-class frigate would provide a surface combatant capability matched only by the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. (Photo: BAE Systems)
The Australian Defence Strategic Review has called for a mix of Tier 1 and Tier 2 surface combatants amid speculation that the SEA 5000 Hunter-class frigate project would be cut back to pay for a potential new class of corvette – but BAE has returned fire with a new offering that could change Australian decision-making.
At the Indo-Pacific Maritime exhibition in Sydney on 7 October, BAE Systems outlined its proposal for a new guided missile variant of its Hunter-class frigate that would include a total of some 96 vertical launch cells and an additional 16 Naval Strike Missile launchers.
Speaking to reporters at the exhibition, Ben Hudson, CEO of BAE Systems Australia, said that a new strike module would contain 64 cells with vertical launch tubes that would add to the ship’s existing 32 VLS cells. The new strike cell would be positioned amidships in place of the multi-mission payload bay module containing uncrewed systems,
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