Frigates Fight Back For Local Business

Ten years ago Australia was bereft of a naval shipbuilding industry, but the A$6 billion Anzac Ship Project has rebuilt the industry, and brought it thoroughly up to date in the way it does business.

In building the frigates, Tenix Defence Systems has taken on the largest and most successful defence project in Australia. Tenix is building eight frigates for the Royal Australian Navy and two for the Royal New Zealand Navy at its Williamstown Dockyard in Victoria, with each vessel valued at around A$350 million.

It's not only good news for Tenix. More than 1,300 Australian and New Zealand companies are supplying services to the project, many of them small to medium size sub-contractors. In rising to the challenge, these companies have taken on sophisticated technologies and highly trained professionals backed by leading edge suppliers. The impact can be seen not only in manufacturing and engineering, but in the way these companies manage their businesses.

Designing and building sophisticated, high-performance naval vessels for today and into the future remains one of the greatest technical and organisational challenges ever. Tenix managing director Paul Salteri says local suppliers have taken on the tremendous challenge of developing and supplying the high quality products demanded in a military vessel. The result is a deep-seated impact on Australian industry.

New Technologies

Through participation in the project Australian companies have become more innovative and have improved their business practices, increased export opportunities, and acquired new defence capabilities. Twenty percent of the Australian businesses involved in the Anzac Ship Project have obtained new technology as a result, and these companies are two to three times more likely than others to implement best-practice business and management techniques.

Many of these companies have used the experience, expertise and capabilities they have developed as a supplier to the project to become more viable and expand into new areas and new markets. A study commissioned by the Australian Industry Group found that by constructing the Anzac frigates in Australia, instead of purchasing overseas, Australia is generating up to A$500 million in additional annual GDP.

Over the 15-year construction phase, the total growth in GDP should exceed A$3 billion. In human terms, the frigates will account for around 7,850 full-time equivalent jobs. The clincher in terms of local benefit is an estimated saving of about A$520 million in through-life support of the vessels.

The study reports that involvement with the Anzac project has been a major factor in the export success of the contractors. More than 20 percent have improved their ability to export as a direct result of participating, and many have already converted this ability into an actual increase in exports. Major benefits included developing new business links through the project, and being able to demonstrate their capacity to meet stringent Defence demands.

For the companies that obtained new technology through the project, the newly acquired technology proved to be of tangible benefit to their business. Companies of all sizes experienced similar benefits. Heading the list is an increase in defence-related sales, reported by 89 per cent of the companies, followed by extended product range (86 percent of companies), increased market share (82 percent), improved quality (75 percent) and improved flexibility (71 percent).

New Markets

Further down the list, but still significant, was the proportion of companies which opened new domestic markets as a result of new technology (46 percent), boosted their non-defence sales (also 46 percent), reduced costs (43 percent) and opened new export markets (39 percent).

Many companies have implemented new business programs and practices, such as total quality management, quality assurance and just-in-time inventory management. Administrative processes have also been upgraded in areas such as strategic planning, business and export planning, budget forecasting, benchmarking and formal networking with other businesses. On the human resources front, employee performance appraisal programs have been widely adopted, along with regular assessment of employees' training needs.

While this may sound like a litany of buzzwords, the reality is there to back up the terminology. Businesses implementing one or more of these programs and practices reported real-world benefits as a result, with more than two-thirds achieving greater client satisfaction. More than half reported an increase in sales, along with new domestic business opportunities and reduced costs. Almost half considered their employee relations had improved, and more than a third found new export opportunities.

At the very heart of the businesses contributing to the frigate project, three-quarters of them had developed a culture of continuous improvement, with consequent gains in quality and productivity.

Modular Design

The Anzac class frigate is based on a modified German Blohm+Voss MEKO 200 design, which uses the latest in modular construction methods for assembly. However, major elements of the design required significant indigenous Australian input and intellectual property.

The vessels are designed for high survivability, with the steel hull and superstructure shaped for low radar signature. The hull is also subdivided into numerous watertight compartments.

The unique modular construction technology has not previously been used in the Australian ship building industry. It is designed not only to permit rapid installation of equipment, but also to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with through-life maintenance and upgrade costs. Each frigate comprises 12 major modules, six for the hull and six for the superstructure.

Modules are constructed in Australia and New Zealand and fitted out to varying levels prior to erection and consolidation on the building berth at Williamstown.

Some 1,500 tonnes of steel is used in the hull and superstructure of each frigate. BlueScope Steel's Metallurgical Technology Department at the Port Kembla Steelworks developed a special high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel grade, ANACON D36, to meet the Tenix specifications.

Special challenges included the need for very long plate lengths and many plates of non-standard thicknesses, varying between 4.4 mm and 50 milimetres, although mostly in the 5 milimetres to 20 milimetres range. All the plates were primed in a special Sigma Weld Carbo 11 inorganic zinc pre-construction primer. With a view to whole-of-life maintenance, BlueScope Steel stands ready to supply the special grade steel at any time in the future when it may be needed.

In addition to its specific grade requirements, the project called for reliable delivery to maintain its demanding delivery schedule, averaging one frigate per year once production was fully under way. As each vessel is launched, the modular design allows the next vessel to be already partially constructed - effectively a frigate conveyor belt. HMAS Anzac was the first to be delivered, in 1996, followed by HMNZS Tekaha and HMAS Arunta in 1997, HMNZS Tamana in 1999 and HMAS Warramunga in 2001. HMAS Stuart is due for delivery in 2002, then HMAS Parramatta in 2003, HMAS Ballarat in 2004, HMAS Toowoomba in 2005 and HMAS Perth in 2006.

HMAS Warramunga, the fifth of the line, was commissioned into the Navy at the end of March this year. Its vital statistics are: length 118 metres; beam 14.8 metres; displacement 3800 tonnes; speed 27 knots; endurance 6000 nautical miles; and a crew of 164.

Small Variations

Each vessel differs in small ways from its predecessors, gaining the benefit of new technology as it becomes available. Warramunga is the first "Batch 2" Anzac. It is the first ship in the world capable of carrying 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles and the first Anzac to be fitted with the Australian/US Nulka active missile decoy. The vessel is also the first Anzac fitted for the new Super Sea-Sprite helicopter and the air-launched Penguin anti-ship missile. These improvements over earlier Anzac ships will provide a quantum leap in RAN surface fleet capability.

This frigate is the second ship to bear the name Warramunga, which is derived from the Warramungu people from the Tennant Creek area. At the vessel's launch, women of the Mungarr Mungarr people of Central Australia travelled to Melbourne to perform a traditional ceremonial dance wishing the ship well.

On its badge is a fearsome Warrumungu tribesman about to throw a boomerang. A background of blue and yellow represents the sky and a desert hillside. The motto "Courage in Difficulties" honours the Warrumungu tribe's life of courage in their harsh environment.

Not only is the Anzac project advancing the status of Australian defence industries internationally, and positioning Australia as a prime shipbuilding manufacturer in the Asia-Pacific region, but there have been other spins offs. As its mascot the crew of the warramunga has adopted the cheetah, its attributes reflecting the fighting qualities of the ship - a sleek, fast, deadly weapon that is adept in a wide variety of defensive and offensive roles. The cheetah also accords very well with the ship's unofficial motto of 'Hunt and Harass'.

The ship's company has developed a close relationship with the Royal Melbourne Zoo and has 'adopted' a cheetah in a bid to build awareness of this endangered animal's plight. On a more hands-on level, crew members helped with some much needed maintenance on the cheetah enclosure at the Werribee Open Range Zoo.