Babcock Australasia CEO Andrew Cridland pushes Arrowhead

Statement by Babcock Australasia CEO Andrew Cridland “Babcock’s Arrowhead, a Type 31 Frigate derivative, is a capable, adaptable and multi-mission modern warship that is operationally proficient in both blue water and littoral areas. We consider the Arrowhead would deliver significant capability to the Royal Australian Navy and meet naval requirements both now and into the future. “The Arrowhead is based on a proven, mature design, and provides a flexible, long range and modular capability that can undertake a range of non-combat and combat missions including strike, delivering value for money to the customer. “To be delivered as a truly sovereign solution, an Australian Arrowhead would be built in-country, providing a significant boost for jobs, industry and the economy and playing a key role in Australia’s continuous shipbuilding agenda. And they can be built quickly; leveraging the Babcock group capability already developed with all five Royal Navy Type 31 frigates being built by Babcock at Rosyth, Scotland. “Babcock’s innovative Arrowyard concept can support a sovereign build and is a comprehensive and bespoke programme of technology transfer and focused support options. Forged from Babcock’s rich engineering know-how and ship build experience, Arrowyard helps customers to optimise their own shipyard capability. “Arrowyard can be deployed anywhere in the world and delivers technically proficient naval build infrastructure, an industry 4.0 ready workforce, world-class frigates and an enduring support capability backed by Babcock’s significant warship sustainment experience. “Capable of operating with a core crew of only 100 people, Babcock’s Arrowhead frigate would allow the Royal Australian Navy to deploy more capability with a significantly smaller crew. There has been strong interest in the Arrowhead frigate internationally – Babcock is the platform design provider and technology partner for Poland’s new frigate program and has a design licence agreement with PT PAL Indonesia. Other potential customers are considering this as a solution for their needs. “Driven by innovation and backed by 130 years of Defence experience, Babcock’s Arrowhead frigate would ensure our defence forces have access to proven capability to face emerging threats whilst providing our naval customers with operational choice, value for money and absolute confidence in performance.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]