The RAN’s final Hobart class destroyer, HMAS Sydney (V) has returned from an 18-week deployment to the US west coast and Canada where it successfully verified and qualified its weapons systems in a series of trials.

The successful combat system sea qualification trials deployment means the ship is now qualified for operations. It follows the ship’s launch in May 2018, the conduct of builder’s sea trials from September to November 2019, and its commissioning in May 2020.

Sydney is the fifth RAN ship to bear the name, and is the third and final vessel built under the Project SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer program, the others being HMA Ships Hobart and Brisbane which returned from their own weapons system trials in January 2019 and December 2019 respectively.

“Our deployment was the culmination of more than a decade of work by Navy in partnership with the Australian shipbuilding industry,” Commanding Officer CMDR Andrew Hough said in a statement. CMDR Hough assumed command from commissioning CO CMDR Edward Seymour during the deployment.

“Despite the constraints of the pandemic, the crew achieved their mission while maintaining COVID-safe practices, with the support of their families back home,” he added. “They demonstrated resilience and professionalism and showed that while the pandemic continues to shape our navy-to-navy interactions, we can still operate domestically, regionally and globally.

“It was an honour to lead such a dedicated crew and to return to our home port, knowing we have been part of the final check off for such a critical capability.”

The ship will now undergo a post-deployment maintenance period in Sydney before being available for operations later in the year.