BAE Systems has announced that the design of the Royal Australian Navy’s Hunter class frigates being procured under Project SEA 5000 has successfully completed a system definition review (SDR).

BAE says the year-long SDR was conducted by company engineers in Australia and the UK, and is a major engineering review which defines how the Australian combat system integrates into it Global Combat ship reference ship design. It says the SDR is the second major review for the design, and that it demonstrates how the design will accommodate Australia’s unique capability requirements, including the CEA CEAFAR radar, the Aegis combat system, and the MH-60R helicopter.

“The selection of the Global Combat Ship for Australia’s Hunter class frigates was based on its digital pedigree, its submarine-hunting capability and its ability to accommodate the changes the Australian Customer requires,” BAE Systems Maritime Australia Managing Director, Craig Lockhart said in a 9 February release.

“In complex naval shipbuilding terms, a successful Systems Definition Review means that you’ve successfully established a Functional Baseline from which you can further develop and integrate the design against the Mission System Specification set by the Customer – and we’ve done just that,” he added.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work and engineering ingenuity to get us to the point where, together with the Royal Australian Navy, we can objectively look at our design and where it sits relative to requirements. I’ve been particularly pleased with the level of close collaboration with our customer to work through the engineering challenges.”

The next milestone will be the preliminary design review (PDR) which BAE describes as a technical assessment that ensures the design is operationally effective, before detailed design and planning can commence.