The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has published Rearming the ANZACs by Robert Macklin. It tells the remarkable story about how the RAN’s Anzac-class frigates – once regarded as a second-tier warship, ‘fitted for but not with’ key weapon systems – were, in the words of a key participant, upgraded to become pound for pound ‘probably the best warship of its size in the world’. The book is based on extensive personal interviews conducted by Macklin with central figures in the Anzac frigate story. It’s a ‘warts and all’ account that casts a critical but constructive eye over a defence procurement saga that cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars, but ultimately equipped the Navy with ships that have since served around the world. An e-copy of the book can be downloaded at https://www.aspi.org.au/report/rearming-anzacs
