Article Posted on : - Nov 29, 2011

HMAS Perth. Australian MoD photo.

SYDNEY (BNS): Eight Anzac Class frigates of Royal Australian Navy will be upgraded with an advanced Anti-Ship Missile Defence system, Australian defence ministry announced Monday.

The upgrade of HMAS Perth as the lead ship for the ASMD programme was successfully completed on 8th May 2011, after firing its first Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile at a remotely piloted air target off Jervis Bay, NSW. PERTH is the first RAN ship to utilise the Australian designed and developed Phase Array Radar to detect, track and engage the remotely piloted air target.

The installation of the system on the remaining seven ships of the ANZAC class will be completed by 2017.

The total project cost is expected to be $650 million.

According to the Ministry, this was the latest weapon in Navy's arsenal to make Navy's ANZAC frigates more capable. The new system is able to identify, track and guide missiles to multiple targets at the same time.