ALL OZ four FFG-class frigates have still not achieved
"operational release".
Is it true?
I have waited for few days before create this thread.
I just wait for oz navy to dent this report.
But it have not come,yet.
How can u believe that one of the two surface combatant ships
of the big country like AUSTRALIA can not go to war?
Oh,pl.Dunt say Fxxx.Let me finish.
Suppose there are enemy next months to invade Oz?How?
SG send ships to help?
1.
Sailors quit as dud frigates unfit for battle,By Ian
McPhedran, Defence Writer,
January 02, 2008 12:00am
AUSTRALIA'S naval defence is in tatters with claims that despite
a $1.4 billion "upgrade", frontline fighting ships are unable to be
sent into battle.
For the first time a navy insider close to the 4000-tonne Adelaide
class guided missile frigates upgrade project has provided details
of one of the biggest defence scandals in the nation's
history.
The whistleblower told The Daily Telegraph that the situation is so
dire that sailors are quitting the navy because their ships can not
be deployed to the Middle East or other conflict zones.
And senior officials now admit that the 1997 frigate upgrade
project was a "debacle" created by the Howard government's decision
to maximise the sale price of the Sydney-based contractor
Australian Defence Industries when it was sold to French firm
Thales.
The project is four years late, includes four ships - not the
original six as commissioned - and they just don't work.
Late last year Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral Russ Shalders refused to
accept HMAS Sydney, the first ship in the program, for "operational
release" because its war fighting systems did not function
properly.
The whistleblower said the ships' anti-missile and anti-torpedo
systems could not be integrated and their electronic support
measures - the ship's eyes and ears for detecting incoming airborne
threats - were a joke.
"That means they would be going into a war zone virtually blind,"
the informant said.
In addition the ships are unable to link their helicopters to war
fighting data or use long-range chaff which confuses enemy missiles
and takes them away from the ship.
The ships are also unable to integrate towed and on-board sonars to
detect enemy torpedoes.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the FFG upgrade was "another
nightmare" that Labor had inherited and would have to manage as
best as it could.
According to government auditors up to 98 per cent of the money has
already been paid to Thales despite the fact the project is four
years late and not one ship is operational.
The latest defence debacle follows a growing list of projects
either incomplete or seriously over-budget.
Do you know more about this story or problems within Defence? Email
us at [email protected]
The most infamous was the Collins submarines, which were noisy,
leaked, had engine trouble and their combat systems did not work.
More recently, the Super Seasprite helicopter has joined the
stuff-up roll of honour.
Another hi-tech project with a $500 million blow-out tag is the
Jindalee Over the Horizon Radar network. The project also ran four
years behind schedule.
2.
Fitzgibbon takes aim over frigates,AAP | January 02,
2008
THE sorry state of Australia's front-line guided missile
frigates was just another example of the former Howard government's
incompetence on national security, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon
said today.
The navy's front-line fighting ships cannot defend themselves and
are unable to be sent into battle despite a $1.4 billion upgrade,
News Limited has reported.
The program to upgrade the 4000-tonne Adelaide Class guided missile
frigates is running four years late and sailors are reportedly
quitting the service as they cannot be sent into any conflict
zones.
"I have very serious concerns and this is just one of a number of
projects which we are now learning in government are going to be a
real problem for the new government," Mr Fitzgibbon told ABC radio
today.
"But we're determined to work sensibly through them and deliver the
navy and indeed all the services the level of capability they need
or require to adequately defend the nation."
It was not the only "nightmare" project Labor had inherited from
the coalition, Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"The former Howard government managed to portray itself as a
government very confident in the area of national security but
unfortunately we are learning in the very early days of government
that the reality is something very, very much different."
Mr Fitzgibbon said he did not know whether there were many sailors
quitting the service due to the slow progress.
"I am aware there is a very, very high level of concern amongst the
people who crew these vessels including those who are in the most
senior ranks ... I'm not sure about quitting.
"I'd be very reluctant to talk in those terms but I am conscious of
very, very high levels of concern."
The new government will now try to speed up the process but Mr
Fitzgibbon said he simply did not know how that was going to be
achieved.
"We're trying to assess this project now and trying to determine
the level of the problem - it's very very complex of course but we
are just now determined to get on with the job and to deliver to
the navy the capability it requires," he said.
"We'll just take our time to work through it and to get this
right."
3.oz have only 2 main types of surface combatant
ships
4.
The navy's four FFG-class frigates have still not
achieved "operational release" after an upgrade and are not
expected to be declared fit for service until the end of next
year.
The FFGs are not deployed to the Middle East, unlike the Anzac
class, although one of the FFG class, HMAS Melbourne, is on patrol
off the Top End.
---
Navy cost sinking budget,Mark Dodd | January 07, 2008
5.Wht oz gallen into this state
if u think FFG is fit for war,at least fr oz navy point of view,pl
share here.
I am waiting to read.
6.The whistleblower said the ships' anti-missile and
anti-torpedo systems could not be integrated. Their electronic
support measures (eyes and ears for detecting incoming airborne
threats) were "a joke".
"That means they would be going into a war zone virtually
blind," the sailor said. "The torpedo detection system cannot be
integrated." The ships also are unable to:
USE long-range chaff, which confuses enemy missiles and takes them
from ships
LINK their helicopters to war-fighting data
INTEGRATE towed and on-board sonars to detect enemy
torpedoes.
The sailor said what angered him and comrades was the gross waste
of taxpayer funds when the navy could have bought virtually new and
more capable U.S. Navy Kidd Class Destroyers in the late-1990s for
a bargain price.
7.en.wikipedia.org
it seems every one here already know this story.
True or false?
Can the ships defend oz now?Dunt tell me all sys will work few
years later.
Sydney harbour may be occupied by well equipped pirates then.
8.what are the status of upgrading?
