Adelaide - class frigate The " Adelaide " class is a ship class of six guided missile frigate s constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy . The class is based on the United States Navy ' s " Oliver Hazard Perry " class frigates , but modified for Australian requirements . The first four vessels were built in the United States , while the other two were constructed in Australia . The first ship entered service in November 1980 , and four of the six ships are active as of 2012 . " Canberra " and " Adelaide " were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively , and later sunk as dive wreck s : their decommissioning was to offset the cost of an A $ 1 billion weapons and equipment upgrade to the remaining four ships . The four surviving ships will be replaced by the " Hobart " class air - warfare destroyer from 2016 onwards . Construction and acquisition . Following the cancellation of the Australian light destroyer project in 1973 , the British Type 42 destroyer and the American " Oliver Hazard Perry " class frigate were identified as alternatives . Although the Type 42 met the RAN ' s requirements as a replacement for the cancelled light destroyers and the " Daring " class destroyers , fitting the ship with the SM - 1 missile would have been difficult . On the other hand , the " Perry " class was still at the design stage ; a design that was described by assessment project staff as " a second rate escort that falls short of the DDL [ light destroyer ] requirements on virtually every respect " . Despite this , the Australian government approved the purchase of two US - built " Perry " class ships in 1974 . The risk of acquiring an unproven design was seen as acceptable because of the success of the USN ' s " Charles F . Adams " class destroyer ( of which the RAN operated three ships as the " Perth " class ) , when compared to the equivalent British ships the RAN would have purchased . Final government approval to order two ships was granted in 1976 , with a third ship ordered in 1977 . The order was later expanded with the order of a fourth unit . These four ships were built by Todd Pacific Shipyards of Seattle , Washington , as part of the USN ' s shipbuilding program , and were assigned USN hull number s during construction , which were replaced with RAN pennant number s upon entering service . The first , HMAS " Adelaide " ( USN hull number FFG - 17 , RAN pennant number FFG 01 ) was built to the Flight I design , while " Canberra " ( FFG - 18 / FFG 02 ) and " Sydney " ( FFG - 35 / FFG 03 ) were the first and last ships of the Flight II design , respectively . The final American - built ship was " Darwin " ( FFG - 44 / FFG 04 ) ; constructed to the Flight III design . In 1980 , two more ships ( " Torrens " and " Newcastle " ) were ordered , but were built in Australia by AMECON of Williamstown , Victoria , and did not receive USN numbers . Prior to launch , " Torrens " was renamed " Melbourne " , as the aircraft carrier of the same name was still commissioned when the " Adelaide " class was ordered , but left service in 1982 . Armament . Since the withdrawal of the " Perth " class destroyers , these ships are the RAN ' s primary air defence vessels , armed with a Mark 13 missile launcher for SM - 2 missiles . They also have significant surface capability , being armed with a Mk 75 gun and the Harpoon ASM ( also fired by the Mark 13 launcher ) , and a pair of triple torpedo tubes for ASW . In addition , a pair of S - 70B Seahawk helicopters are carried . From 2005 onwards , all RAN frigates deploying to the Persian Gulf are fitted with two M2HB . 50 calibre machine guns in Mini Typhoon mounts , installed on the aft corners of the hangar roof . Two TopLite EO directors are used with the guns . The Australian frigates were originally fitted with American Mark 46 anti - submarine torpedoes , but by 2008 , they had been replaced with the European MU90 Impact torpedo in three of the four frigates as part of the FFG Upgrade , with the conversion of " Newcastle " underway at that point . Upgrades . There have been two major upgrades distinguishing the " Adelaide " class from the American " Oliver Hazard Perry " class frigates . Lengthening . The first three ships were constructed to the " Perry " class ' ' short ' hull design ( Flight I and II ) , with an identical length for both the main deck and the keel . Ships from FFG - 36 onwards ( including " Darwin " ) were built with an increase in overall length — achieved by angling the transom ( the section between the fantail and the keel ) to increase the area of the flight deck and allow the operation of Seahawk helicopters . " Adelaide " , " Canberra " , and " Sydney " were later upgraded to match the slightly larger ships , and were fitted with the updated sonars and ESM systems of the Flight III design . FFG Upgrade . In the mid - 1990s , the Australian government commenced SEA 1390 , also known as the FFG Upgrade Project . Originally costing A $ 1 billion , which has expanded to A $ 1 . 46 billion , the project includes improvements to the combat and fire control system , the sonar suite , and the air defence missiles . The upgrade was for four ships and intended to expand their service life to approximately 2020 . The project cost was partly offset by the decommissioning of the two oldest units : " Canberra " paying off in 2005 and " Adelaide " in 2008 . Modification of each ship took place at Garden Island Dockyard , with Australian Defence Industries ( ADI , now Thales Australia ) selected as project leader for the upgrade phase of the project . After the refit , the ships are capable of firing SM - 2MR and RGM - 84 Harpoon missiles from the Mark 13 launcher . An 8 - cell Mark 41 Vertical Launch System for Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile has also been installed forward of the Mark 13 launcher . The Phalanx CIWS was upgraded to Block 1B , and the torpedoes , missiles , and other ship - mounted weapons were upgraded to the latest versions . By January 2008 , the FFG Upgrade Project was running at least four years behind schedule . The frigates ' anti - missile and anti - torpedo detection and defence systems could not be integrated as intended , leaving the ships vulnerable to attack . The first ship refitted , HMAS " Sydney " , was initially not accepted back into service by the RAN because of the problems , which have also prevented any refitted ship from serving in a combat zone . Australian Defence Association executives and serving navy personnel have blamed both political parties for the problems : while the Howard Liberal government was responsible for the project , the preceding Labor government chose to maintain the frigates instead replacing them with the more expensive and much more labour - intensive , but more capable " Kidd " class destroyers in the early 1990s . By November 2008 , " Darwin " s upgrade had been completed , while the problems experienced with " Sydney " had been rectified in both ships . It is planned to start deploying these warships to the Gulf in 2009 . The RAN and Thales subsequently claimed that the two upgraded ships were the " most capable ships in the history of the RAN " , and that once the other two " Adelaide " s were upgraded , the navy would possess the " most lethal frigate fleet on earth " . It was reported at the same time that other nations operating guided missile frigates , including the United States , Canada , Greece , and Turkey , were considering similar upgrades . Fates . " Canberra " and " Adelaide " were decommissioned to offset the cost of upgrading the remaining four ships , with " Canberra " decommissioned on 12 November 2005 and " Adelaide " on 19 January 2008 . " Canberra " was subsequently sunk as a dive wreck on 4 October 2009 , off Ocean Grove , Victoria , in of water . " Adelaide " was converted into a dive wreck , but plans to scuttle her off Avoca Beach , New South Wales in April 2010 were postponed following protests by resident action group s and a tribunal hearing , which ordered the removal of wiring and paint from sections of the frigate before she was sunk on 13 April 2011 . The four upgraded " Adelaide " class frigates will be replaced by three new " Hobart " class air defence destroyers , equipped with the Aegis combat system , starting around 2016 .