Upgraded Guided Missile Frigates
John Faulkner
posted Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Minister for Defence, Senator John Faulkner, today announced the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) had received the Chief of Navy's agreement to take the upgraded Guided Missile Frigates (FFGs) into a formal program of Naval Operational Test and Evaluation.
Senator Faulkner made the announcement at the opening of the Pacific 2010 International Maritime Congress in Sydney.
"On the basis of the significant progress that has been achieved, Project SEA1390 Phase 2.1, the FFG Upgrade Project, has now been removed from the list of Projects of Concern," Senator Faulkner said.
"This brings the FFG Upgrade contract closer to completion. There is now a defined pathway to the completion of the Project, with the issues surrounding Project of Concern classification sufficiently remediated to remove it from the list.
"There is still work to be done to tune and tailor the delivered systems to Navy's contemporary requirements. There is also an ever-present need to configure and augment the systems in ships deploying into operational areas to ensure that they have the best available capability to meet the threats in those areas.
"We have learned valuable lessons from the FFG Upgrade experience and, despite its problems, we are delivering a much improved capability," Senator Faulkner said.
The Navy's operational testing, evaluation, and tailoring process will support wide operational employment of these very capable ships.
"The upgraded FFG capability sets an international benchmark for what can be achieved with this class of ship.
"I congratulate all involved on the outcomes achieved from this very challenging upgrade project," Senator Faulkner said.
Tags: Defence, Guided Missile Frigates, Navy