Hobart Class Destroyers

Based on the Navantia-designed F-100 Frigate built for the Spanish Navy, the Hobart Class Destroyers remain at the forefront of power, lethality, and operational capability.

The Royal Australian Navy currently operate three Hobart Class Destroyers; HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41), and HMAS Sydney (DDG 42).

These vessels provide dominant air defence for vessels at sea, land forces, and coastal infrastructure, in addition to robust self-defence capabilities against adversarial artillery and aircraft. The Hobart Class Destroyers are designed to operate in high sea temperatures and extreme weather conditions and are capable of engaging in a wide range of missions including anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare, making them a formidable presence in the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet.

Equipped with modern sonar and communications systems, decoys, surface-launched torpedoes, and an array of effective close-in defensive weapons, the Hobart Class Destroyers also provide enhanced undersea and task group command capabilities. The inclusion of the Lockheed Martin Aegis Combat System incorporates state-of-the-art phased array radar and interchangeable ballistic armament, allowing these vessels to engage with threats from a distance of over 150 kilometres.

With integrated combat management systems, the Hobart Class Destroyers can coordinate complex operations with other naval assets, ensuring superior situational awareness and tactical responsiveness. These vessels possess the advanced, layered defence required to counter symmetric and asymmetric threats, providing the Royal Australian Navy with the leading-edge technology and powerful maritime strike capability.

The very best of both global and sovereign technologies, the Hobart Class Destroyers are key to maintaining Australia’s strong presence in the Indo Pacific region.

In 2006, the Australian Government selected Navantia’s F-100 Frigate design to become what is now known as the Hobart Class Destroyer.

The Hobart Class Destroyers were built in both the Williamstown shipyard in Victoria and the Osbourne shipyard in South Australia. With the exception of one block of HMAS Hobart, which was constructed at a Navantia shipyard in Spain, the Hobart Class Destroyer blocks were constructed by the various organisations that came together to form the Air Warfare Alliance. These blocks were then assembled at the Osbourne shipyard where they received final outfitting before delivery.

In 2015 the Australian Government appointed Navantia as the Shipyard Management Services contractor to complete the construction of the Hobart Class as part of the Air Warfare Destroyer Reform program. Under Navantia Australia’s management, labour hours on the program were reduced, and all cost and schedule milestones were met. The work which Navantia Australia undertook in Adelaide’s Osborne shipyard created a strong foundation for Australia’s continuous shipbuilding program.

The lessons learned by all contributing parties of the Hobart Class Destroyers project under the guidance of Navantia Australia’s shipyard management services has led to a stronger, better-informed sovereign shipbuilding and sustainment industry.

We provide top-tier, in-country support to the Hobart Class Destroyers through life.

Navantia Australia has been given Design Authority for the Hobart Class Destroyers through best-practice transfer of technology procedures and a localisation of Navantia’s Australian activities to our 99% locally-engaged workforce. Through our role as platform designer of the Hobart Class Destroyers, we provide comprehensive through-life support to the Hobart Class Destroyer sustainment contractor.

Navantia is also the Original Equipment Manufacturer of several systems on the Hobart Class Destroyers including the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), diesel engines, and generator sets. This gives Navantia Australia a deep understanding of these ships and are well positioned to provide design support as they evolve into the future.

Our through-life support is currently performed by our experienced field engineers based out of HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, strongly supported by their peers in our Melbourne Naval Design and Engineering Centre. Our local engineering team have provided numerous, complex design changes to the Hobart Class Destroyers on the request of the Commonwealth, to allow these ships to maintain their strategic edge and top-class capability.

In 2023, Navantia Australia was engaged by the Commonwealth of Australia as the Platform Systems Designer for the SEA4000 Phase 6 Hobart Class Destroyer Combat Systems upgrade. This appointment recognised the position, expertise and knowledge of Navantia Australia as the Hobart Class Guided Missile Destroyer designer to support the Destroyer Capability Enhancement (DCE) program, incorporating the upgrade to Aegis Baseline 9 under the SEA4000 Phase 6 project.

The highly-skilled team from Navantia Australia performed the complex and extensive ship design and platform integration, integrating a modernised Aegis Weapon System under Baseline 9, as well as the Tomahawk Weapon system and Saab Australian Interface into the Hobart Class Destroyers, alongside other industry partners including Lockheed Martin Australia, and Saab Australia.

In 2025, Navantia Australia was contracted to provide comprehensive design and engineering support to the Hobart Class Destroyers (DDGs), Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs), LHD Landing Craft (LLCs), and Supply Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment Vessels (AORs) under the Designer Support Contract (DSC). The DSC scope amalgamated Navantia Australia’s extant Support Services contracts for the Royal Australian Navy’s DDGs, LHDs, LLCs, and AORs, as well as the Platform System Designer Deed into the one contractual arrangement. Introduced under the Maritime Sustainment Model, the DSC utilises Navantia Australia’s deep product knowledge and baseline management to facilitate design integrity throughout sustainment and continuous improvement activities.