Royal Australian Navy's New Ship's

This is from the Australian Defence Departments Web Site @ www.defence.gov.au...

This is the article;

AIR WARFARE DESTROYER DESIGN COMPETITION BEGINS

Three international ship designers have been selected to develop concept ship designs based on existing ship classes to enable the selection of Australia�s new air warfare destroyers, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.
This activity will lead to the selection of a preferred designer in mid 2005.
Spanish ship builder IZAR will produce an evolved concept design based on the Alvaro De Bazan Class Frigate (F100) which is currently in service with the Spanish Navy. Izar was selected because it has already designed an operational ship that has successfully integrated the United States� Aegis air warfare system.
Blohm + Voss of Germany will produce an evolved concept design based on the Sachsen Class Frigate (F124) which is currently in service with the German Navy. Blohm + Voss was selected because of its knowledge of and experience with Australian industry flowing from its design of the very successful Anzac class frigates. Whilst the F124 utilises a European air warfare system, the concept design also offered a version of the Aegis system.
Gibbs & Cox of the United States will produce an evolved concept design based on a modified version of the Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG-51), which is currently in service with the United States Navy. Gibbs & Cox have been selected as it was the lead ship detail design agent for the DDG 51 class and has vast experience with integrating various evolutions of the AEGIS air warfare system into the DDG-51 design.
The concept designs will be developed to meet the specific capability requirements of the Australian Defence Force. This process will occur in parallel with the design of the combat system for the new air warfare destroyers.
Consistent with the Government�s announcement last year that a United States designed air warfare system � most probably a variant of the Aegis system � will form the basis of the combat system for the new ships, the Government has requested the United States Navy assist on issues related to the integration of Aegis into the design concepts. This would be under the recently signed Statement of Principles between the Royal Australian Navy and the US Navy for collaboration on surface ships.
Tenix and the Australian Submarine Corporation will be asked separately to assist Defence in the assessment of the designs and to advise the Government on the opportunities to maximise potential for Australian industry involvement in the project. The Australian shipbuilders have been engaged as advisers because of their experience in building large warships.
The first of Australia�s three new air warfare destroyers will be delivered in 2013. The new ships will be constructed at a cost of $4.5 billion � $6 billion.
These large ships will be capable of detecting and shooting down aircraft at extended ranges and protecting deployed forces from air and missile attack. This will ensure Australia�s amphibious and support ships can operate with 24-hour air defence, as well as supporting land forces in coastal areas and aircraft such as the Airborne Early Warning and Control, AP3-C Orions and C130 Hercules aircraft.
The air warfare destroyers will also have an anti-submarine and anti-shipping capability. There is also the potential for the ships� sensors to be used to detect ballistic missiles in flight.

Which Ship do you think would be the best to choose, I personally think they should design their own type.

Interesting side note to this story. The US version on offer, although based on the DDG-51 design is only a blue print. It's an option forced on the RAN by the government as it's US designed. The RAN only wanted to look at the two European designs as they are in service and proven.

Why not build and design our own ships? To damn expensive thats why.

Why not build and design our own ships? To damn expensive thats why.

Good point
I think a lot of people don't realize that to design a hightech military system from scratch can cost billions in R&D - in some cases even more then the weapons themselves