CANBERRA - Australia is accelerating its plans for procuring eight new frigates. The frigates will be built as ASC in Adelaide. Accelerating the program will allow Australia to overcome a shipbuilding "valley of death" and maintain high-value skilled jobs at Port Adelaide.
The new frigate program is worth $10 billion. The options for meeting this requirement include a modified version of the ASC-built Air Warfare Destroyer, the British Type 26 frigate, European FREMM multipurpose frigate, German F-125 frigate, and the Blohm and Voss Meko 600.
The decision on this frigate program is currently scheduled for 2017.