On August 20, Australian warship HMAS Hobart (DDG-39) launched an SM-2 interceptor in its first test of the weapons system. The missile, launched off the East Australian coast, successfully struck an unmanned target in the flight test. Commissioned in 2017, Hobart is the first ship in Australia’s fleet equipped with the Aegis Combat System, a...
On October 27, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) commissioned its second Hobart-class air warfare destroyer, HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41). Brisbane is the second vessel in the RAN’s three-ship program to replace its fleet of Adelaide-class guided-missile frigates, the first being HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), commissioned in September 2017. Equipped with the Aegis Combat System, the vessel...
On July 12, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) successfully tested an ATM-84J Harpoon antiship cruise missile in a sinking exercise during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). Fired from a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft, the missile struck the former USS Racine (LST-1191), a Newport-class Landing Ship, Tank. The United States and Japan also...
