This article was first published in the Australian Naval Review, 2021, Issue 2, in December 2021.
By Craig Lockhart*
Standing in the steel fabrication hall at the Osborne Naval Shipyard as the latest prototyping unit moves, or ‘pulses’, from one station to the next, it’s clear the digital shipyard is coming to life – representing a significant step forward for our company and for naval shipbuilding in Australia.
Progress in the shipyard is emblematic of the activity right across the Hunter Class Frigate Program as 1400 employees – in Melbourne, at sites in the United Kingdom and at Osborne in Adelaide – work towards delivering nine world-class anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates to the Royal Australian Navy. And while BAE Systems Maritime Australia is making progress on construction – the first prototyping unit was manufactured in October – it is also implementing lessons learned from past naval shipbuilding projects establishing strong foundations for continuous naval shipbuilding in Australia.
Australia has no option but to get it right the first time. By around 2035, half of the world’s submarines will be operating in the Indo-Pacific region, which means the Hunter’s ASW capability will be extremely important to protect Australia’s interests. Delivery into service with the RAN when it is needed is of utmost importance.
That is why the Commonwealth Government’s recent decision to shift cut steel for the first Hunter frigate by up to 18 months is important. The decision puts into practice the lessons learned from first-of-class ship build programs around the world, which tells us that it is fundamental to mature the design as much as possible prior to commencing construction. It will also result in a greater build efficiency across the Hunter program, reducing the risk of rework for each frigate and, therefore, enable schedule compression in the following years that ensures greater certainty around our delivery milestones.
Hunter’s design is evolving principally under two major activities. The first commenced earlier this year with the Systems Definition Review (SDR), an exhaustive year-long process which establishes the functional baseline of the ship and assesses design maturity against capability and whole-ship performance requirements, including the integration of the Australian Government mandated changes.
Lightship weight is a focus area for the SDR. Contrary to some recent commentary, the Hunter frigate is not overweight and remains within the design criteria to meet key whole-ship performance characteristics such as stability, seakeeping, speed, range and endurance. Lightship weight has increased in line with the Type 26 reference ship in the UK and accounting for the Australian mandated changes around the combat system, but we have modified the Hunter’s hull form slightly to accommodate the weight and margins and meet Royal Australian Navy capability requirements.
The second major activity is a process called design separation, which is the transfer of the Type 26 reference ship design, knowledge, tools and systems from BAE Systems shipyards on the Clyde River in Glasgow to the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide. Essentially, a copy of the reference ship design – including two million digital artefacts and 90,000 documents – is being taken zone by zone and the Hunter CAD model will mature with the addition of each zone through a ‘refresh and merge’ process that establishes a sovereign shipbuilding capability in Australia.
Designing and building an ultra-modern and complex surface combatant is not without its challenges and risks. That is why these reviews are so important. They allow us to assess the risks and maturity of the design as part of a systematic process to ensure that when we commence construction we are able to use an optimised and efficient build strategy. There is not a ship build program in the world that has not learned this lesson through its first of class – and this is our chance to get it right.
** Photo – BAE – CAD Hunter.jpg **
The Hunter program is currently exceeding its agreed Australian contract expenditure percentage, which is a minimum of 58 per cent over the life of the Hunter program. We are placing contracts with Australian businesses and are testing and maturing supply chain solutions for the program’s manufacturing phase.
Already we have announced companies including New South Wales based BlueScope Steel, Western Australia based Altrad, MG Engineering and Infrabuild in South Australia, and Mackay Consolidated Industries in Victoria among the 40 contracts we have awarded to date. With the prototyping phase in full swing, the focus has shifted to engaging Australian businesses for frigate construction.
Dozens of Australian businesses have recently submitted expressions of interest for a range of equipment to be installed on the first batch of three frigates, including mission bay side doors, door hatches and scuttles for the mast and around the ship, catering equipment that will support the preparation and cooking of meals, and laundering facilities for use by personnel.
Multimillion-dollar equipment contracts planned for award in coming months include valves, compressors, diesel generators, gas turbine and enclosures, shaftline system, cold and cool rooms, blast doors and light fittings. We are supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seeking to work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Baker & Provan and Cold Logic, while also working with OEMs and potential Australian SMEs to explore building military-grade propellers, HVAC and other systems in Australia, made by Australians. We have committed to progressively increase sovereign capability over the life of the program and we remain committed to do so.
We continue to invest in research and technology and are collaborating with academics, researchers and SMEs to develop, test and trial advanced manufacturing processes and techniques that will lead to productivity, quality and safety outcomes at the Osborne shipyard. Our Innovation Challenge series is one of the initiatives where SMEs are working with us to establish a world-class shipyard that is at the leading edge of future digital capability.
This will see the establishment of a digital shipyard in what represents a significant step change from shipbuilding programs of the past and will see connectivity run through the Hunter ship design, manufacturing utilising Industry 4.0 technologies, connectivity to our supply chain and customer, connected workers, a connected ship and a connected fleet.
In many ways, the Hunter program is about more than just ships; it is about building an enduring and uniquely Australian sovereign industrial capability that supports Australia’s continuous naval shipbuilding strategy for future generations.
BAE’s design process
BAE Systems has established visualisation suites across its Australian and UK operations to ensure a truly integrated design process for the Hunter Class Frigate Program.
The vis suite constructed at the Osborne Naval Shipyard is a crucial part of the company’s digital shipyard vision. The state-of-the-art 4 metre wide by 2.5 metre high Christie MicroTiles LED wall is the first of its kind in Australia, providing a full 2D and 3D view of the Hunter-class frigate updated continuously from the reference ship design, the UK Type 26.
The vis suite synthesises data from sources including a production CAD model, bill of materials and enterprise risk management tools so that teams can rapidly access up-to-date information about ship design.
‘Detailed perfectly to scale, the virtual frigate model provides our design engineers with an unprecedented opportunity to refine the Hunter frigate specifications before construction commences ensuring we commence with a mature design maturity and limit the impact of rework’, says Chris Muskett, Chief Engineer on the Hunter Class Frigate Program.
‘The visualisation suite connectivity over multiple global sites enables us to work together with all the latest technical data readily available, without being physically together. These audio-vis capabilities enable us to run collaborative meetings including with our customer and suppliers.
‘The digital design of the Hunter class frigates gives us the opportunity to invest in the development of new technologies and solutions that will enable an Australian design capability for complex surface combatants, transform continuous naval shipbuilding and ensure the Royal Australian Navy maintains its competitive edge.’
*Craig Lockhart is a defence leader with more than 30 years’ industry experience incorporating leadership roles in the surface ship, submarine and civil nuclear power sectors.
As Managing Director of BAE Systems Maritime Australia, Craig leads the team delivering nine Hunter-class frigates to the Royal Australian Navy. The Hunter Class Frigate Program is the largest surface ship build project in Australian defence history and will establish continuous shipbuilding capability in Australia. Craig joined BAE Systems Australia in May 2019.
Craig has spent most of his career working with Babcock International Group, most recently as Managing Director, Naval Marine in the UK, leading a team of 6500 people across two naval dockyards, two naval bases, two ship build yards, and technology and engineering centres. He was previously the CEO of Babcock Operations Pacific Region, based in Adelaide. Craig is a mechanical engineer and holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
