RAN’s third AWD takes shape
The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) third Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) is taking shape, with the mast now loaded onto the hull of the vessel, the AWD Alliance announced on 17 May.
The mast was successfully loaded onto the hull of the future HMAS Sydney on 15 May, and the build continues to benefit from lessons learned across the programme, with significant efficiency gains being measured from the first ship through to the third.
The vessel’s Aegis block was consolidated in April, and the AWD Alliance is now working towards the completion of the ship’s hull integration in the coming months.
Jason Loveday, manager, Sydney Ship, said: ‘Our ship three team critically analysed the build state of ship two’s mast outfitting, and evaluated the build strategy to introduce further efficiencies. I am very proud of our shipbuilding team for proactively working together to achieve a further improvement of 15 percent on top of the already optimised ship two mast outfitting strategy.’
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