FFGUP Popular In US

Leading Seaman Electronics Technician Nicholas Newman explains to Captain Glen Zeiders USN, Commander of the FFG CLASSRON, along with Captain Peter Leavy RAN, Commanding Officer HMAS SYDNEY (2nd L) and Commander Darron Kavanagh RAN, Weapons Engineering Officer (R), some of equipment used in the STIR Equipment Room onboard HMAS SYDNEY that differ to that of the US Navy, in a short port visit to the Mayport Naval Station, Mayport, Florida, during Northern Trident 2009.

The FFG Upgrade that the RAN has conducted on its four remaining Adelaide Class FFGs certainly attracted plenty of attention during HMAS Sydney’s recent visit to the ports of Baltimore and Mayport, in the United States. Baltimore is close to Washington DC, so many defence companies and representatives from the Pentagon toured the ship, while Mayport is the administrative and logistic centre for the 30 FFGs remaining in the US Navy.

"The US Navy were extremely interested in viewing our upgraded FFG and discussing the changes that we have made to our Adelaide Class," said Sydney’s Commanding Officer, CAPT Peter Leavy.

In Baltimore groups from the Australian Embassy, Defence Materiel Organisation, the Pentagon and various defence contractors all toured the ship to see the upgrade first-hand.

"They were very interested in the retention of the Mark 13 single-arm missile launcher as the U.S Navy has removed theirs from all ship classes in recent years and moved to an all Vertical Launch System (VLS) fleet. They also wanted to understand the follow-on upgrade to equip our ships to operate the longer range SM-2 Standard Missile," said Captain Leavy.

Although the US Navy have FFGs based right around the country, Mayport is essentially the "home" of the class. Sydney’s visit generated a lot of interest from amongst the staff at Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 14, the FFG Squadron and many USN officers and sailors serving on their FFGs. Captain Glenn Zeiders USN, commands DESRON 14 and the FFG Squadron and was particularly keen to tour Sydney and talk to the Heads of Department, while a key member of his engineering staff sailed onboard the ship from Baltimore to Mayport.

"The future of the Class within the U.S. Navy is being reviewed but one possible option is to upgrade and extend the planned life of at least some of their ships," said CAPT Leavy. "Given the RAN has already headed down that path, this is definitely one area where the RAN can value add to the decision making process within the US Navy."

Along with the US and Australia, the FFG Class is operated by Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, Poland, Spain and Taiwan.

"Earlier this year the inaugural meeting of the "International Frigate Working Group" (IFWG) was held in Mayport. The IFWG consists of representatives from all countries that currently operate FFGs (including Australia) and aims to share knowledge and experience about the ships to the benefit of all. The upgrade to the RAN frigates was of particular interest at the meeting, so the chance to tour one and talk to the operators and maintainers was extremely valuable," Captain Zeiders said.