Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN} is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Established in 1909, the RAN was formed out of the Commonwealth Naval Forces, the small navy of Australia after federation, which consisted of the colonial navies of the new Australian states. The Royal Navy continued to provide blue water defence in the Pacific until World War Two, when expansion of the RAN saw the acquisition of aircraft carriers, and other large surface vessels.

Future

The RAN has initiated the Sea 4000 Project, under which it has agreed to acquire three vessels based upon the U.S. Navy

Related Topics:
Sea 4000 Project - U.S. Navy

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Aegis air and surface combat management system. Permission for the RAN to use this technology had to be obtained from the US Congress. The Australian Government has awarded the contract to the Australian Submarine Corporation (builders of the Collins clas submarines) which will build the ships in Adelaide, SA. There is currently a shortlist of about three models to base the ships on; the project is expected to exceed AUS$8 billion. The most recent announcement is that the RAN has commissioned ship designer Gibbs & Cox to lead the design project.

Related Topics:
Aegis - US Congress - Australian Submarine Corporation - Adelaide - SA - AUS$ - Gibbs & Cox

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The RAN also has a project to build two large (25000+ tonne Displacement) multi-purpose ships that would have amphibious assault, transport and command centre roles. In August 1994 Australia announced plans to evaluate the Mistral and Buque de Proyección Estratégica for possible purchase of a pair of units. These ships all have a displacement of roughly 20,000 tons.

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The ships are planned to operate a number of helicopters and the Defence Department has stated that there is a possibility that they may extend the proposed order of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the RAAF to include STOVL versions for the RAN to use on the new ships. This would give the RAN a fixed wing combat capability that it has not had since the decommissioning of HMAS Melbourne in 1982.

Related Topics:
Joint Strike Fighter - RAAF - STOVL - HMAS ''Melbourne'' - 1982

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