Australia issues tender for destroyer sustainment

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has issued a tender in support of a project to provide through-life sustainment for the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) three Hobart-class destroyers.

The request for tender for the ‘destroyer capability life cycle manager' (CLCM) was issued on 25 October. The vessels will be the first major RAN platform to be appointed a CLCM.

The core role of the CLCM will be to manage the sustainment of the Hobart-class destroyers and to support a programme to provide capability enhancement. The latter project will progress through a programme known as Sea 4000 Phase 6, which has a value of up to AUD5 billion (USD3.7 billion).

Sea 4000 Phase 6 is scheduled to commence in 2023 and will run until near the end of the decade. The programme will deliver an upgrade to the destroyers' Aegis combat system – expected to be the latest Baseline 9 configuration – and an updated tactical interface.

The DoD said it will hold an industry briefing about the CLCM requirement in early November. It hopes to award the contract to the selected CLCM in June 2022.

The CLCM concept is geared towards consolidating the management of the sustainment through one industry prime contractor. The model was initially applied in the programme to support the RAN's new Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).

Raytheon was appointed as CLCM for these 12 vessels in December 2020. State-owned shipbuilder ASC started construction of the first OPV in November 2018. Civmec started construction of its first OPV – the third in the series – in March 2020. The first Arafura-class OPV is scheduled to be delivered to the RAN in late 2021.