ANZAC Ship Design in Australia

Blohm+Voss of Germany, the designer of the ANZAC Class ships, has established in Australia a naval design and engineering capability that will be of enduring benefit to the Department of Defence and Australian industry.
The ANZAC ships, designed by Blohm+Voss GmbH of Germany, are a derivative the proven MEKO(r) 200 frigate, one of the family of MEKO(r) designs in service with nine navies. MEKO(r) (Multi-Purpose Combination) is a design concept that embraces the flexible installation of weapons, electronics and major ship's services in the form of standardized modules and standardized interfaces. Modularity is the keynote of the MEKO(r) technology, which incorporates innovative survivability and signature reduction features.

Blohm+Voss in Hamburg established Blohm+Voss (Australia), in 1987 to provide in-country technical and project management assistance in its bid for the ANZAC Ship Project. Tendering in conjunction with Tenix (then AMECON), Blohm+Voss (Australia) was successful and the Design Sub-Contract was signed in November 1989.

The majority of the Australianisation design activity was conducted in Hamburg, with Blohm+Voss (Australia) seconding many of its staff to Blohm+Voss for some three and a half years. These staff had key roles as members of the various Blohm+Voss Technical Departments, ensuring specific Australian/New Zealand requirements were understood and incorporated in the design, whilst gaining exposure to Blohm+Voss design and design practices, with the objective of subsequently taking responsibility for the design during construction.

Upon the return to Australia, these staff prepared a significant percentage of the Detail Design Package for the ANZAC Ships in-house, initially in Canberra, and from mid-1993 in Melbourne where a fully functioning multi-discipline Ship Design Office was established. The objective of this activity was to develop an indigenous naval ship design capability for ANZAC Ships to both support the construction activity and provide through life design support until 2027.

The Blohm+Voss (Australia) design role during the initial ANZAC construction period included full Configuration Management of the design of ANZAC Ships 01 and 02. This led to Blohm+Voss (Australia) undertaking and controlling design change activity for configuration changes, utilising minimal support of the parent company in Germany.

In 1998 the company's name was changed to Blohm & Voss Assets and its engineering capability, together with the name Australian Marine Technologies (AMT) were transferred to a new company, owned 50% by Blohm & Voss Assets and 50% by Tenix. With the merger of a number of German shipyards, including Blohm+Voss, to create ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG in 2005, Blohm & Voss Assets again changed its name to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Australia. The company, supported by AMT, has continued its role in the design and design approval of configuration changes to ANZAC ships.

AMT has established itself as a leading Australian provider of naval engineering services in its own right, and now provides support to other RAN Fleet units, to DMO Project groups in support of various major acquisition programs, and to other countries in the SE Asian region. Blohm + Voss' approach to the transfer of intellectual property and technology to Australia and its commitment to establishing an enduring naval ship design capability in Australia is thus representative of the success of the ANZAC Ship Project in meeting the Department of Defence's demanding requirements for Australian Industry Involvement.

By Gregor Ferguson, Adelaide