The Australian Navy ship HMAS Success (front) performs a Replenishment at Sea evolution with the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu
IN PHOTO: The Australian Navy ship HMAS Success (front) performs a Replenishment at Sea evolution with the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu, providing it with more fuel during the continuing search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, in the southern Indian Ocean in this picture released by the Australian Defence Force on April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Australian Defence Force/Handout REUTERS/Australian Defence Force handout

Australia’s first advanced air warfare destroyer has been launched with thousands seen lining up in Adelaide to see the HMAS Hobart in the water for the first time. The AWD is one of the three destroyers being built in South Australia.

The air destroyer weighs about 7,000 tonnes with a height of 55 metres. The launch celebrated the transition of the Navy ship from hardstand to water. HMAS Hobart will be spending the next 12 months in port while combat systems equipment are being installed on the ship ahead of testing.

The launch may have overshadowed the Australian government’s audit into the ships, which was already behind schedule for two and a half years. The federal government has refused to release documents due to commercial confidence, reports ABC.

The cost of building the ships has ballooned by $1.2 billion to $9 billion in total, reports 9News. “We can’t ignore the fact that these ships are costing $3 billion a ship when equivalent ships in other parts of the world would have cost us just a billion dollars a ship,” said Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill used the launch of the destroyer to push for his state’s capabilities in building the next generation of submarines. He criticised the government for the timing of its audit and said Cormann has “deliberately sabotaged the celebration of the launch.”

Weatherill used his speech at the launch as an opportunity to send a message to Canberra to trust South Australia and its workers in building the country’s future submarines. “We have the talent, we have the facilities, we have the commitment to successfully build both ships and submarines here,” said the SA Premier.

The federal government has not made a commitment to build the next generation of submarines in South Australia but it previously made a vow during the last election campaign. Australia’s Defence Minister Kevin Andrews said he was determined to get the submarine project back on track and ensure the future of the local shipbuilding industry.

Andrews also confirmed that the second destroyer, HMAS Brisbane, is currently being fitted more than half of the blocks consolidated. The defence minister said once the warships become fully operational, the ships will have a combination of “great endurance” as well as an arsenal of defensive and offensive weapons.

(To report problems or leave feedback on this article, contact: r.su@ibtimes.com.au)

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