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Provisional acceptance for HMAS Sydney

15 December 2006

Australia's largest defence company, Thales Australia is pleased to announce provisional acceptance of the guided missile frigate HMAS SYDNEY by the Department of Defence at Garden Island today.

HMAS SYDNEY was handed back for Navy use in April this year and since then has spent valuable time at sea participating in a number of exercises and undergoing further trials in various conditions.

The 20 year old frigate has been upgraded with the latest naval combat system technology which included new weapons systems, sensors and machinery. Provisional acceptance represents HMAS SYDNEY's delivery from Thales Australia to the Department of Defence.

The FFG Upgrade Project is the most sophisticated naval systems integration task ever undertaken in Australia by an Australian company involving both new technologies and legacy equipment.

Thales Australia's managing director Norman Gray said today's provisional acceptance is an important achievement in the $1 billion capability project.
'This is a complex project which has broken new ground in Australia, particularly with the Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System (ADACS) and the Underwater Warfare System, largely locally developed and locally integrated.

'It is testament to the capability and expertise which we have here in Australia'.

Vice president of Thales Australia's Naval business group, Ali Baghaei said 'Reaching this point in the FFG Upgrade Project has been a collective effort and made possible through the tenacity and hard work of the FFG Project Team, their subcontractors and industry partners as well as the DMO and the Ship's Company'.

'We have moved through the design phase to the acceptance phase and can look back and see the challenges which were met head on, addressed and overcome by a dedicated group of professionals who have built the expertise and experience - this augurs well for future programs'.

For Department of Defence, Commodore Drew Mckinnie commented that 'Provisional acceptance and the delivery of HMAS SYDNEY from Thales Australia marks a significant milestone for the FFG Upgrade Project and now affords Navy the opportunity to commence its operational test and evaluation of this new capability'.

'We look forward to progressively updating HMAS SYDNEY's combat system software as the new capabilities are fielded and we wish them well in the next phase of their operational cycle,' Mr Baghaei said.

Sister ship HMAS MELBOURNE is continuing its progress through the Upgrade program after its earlier than scheduled undocking in July this year. Provisional acceptance of the ship is intended for later in 2007.

About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide, supported by a comprehensive services offering. The group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Leveraging a global network of high-level researchers, Thales offers a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy critical information systems. Thales employs 60,000 people in 50 countries and generated revenues of $17 billion in 2005, with a record order book of over $33 billion.