Navy’s chief orders review
Ship failure claim rejected
Australia’s Navy chief ordered an urgent review of the defensive capabilities of our warships after Iran-backed rebels began a barrage of drone strikes on vessels in the Red Sea.
But Vice Admiral Mark Hammond has rejected claims that the Navy was not equipped to send a ship when Australia refused America’s call for help late last year to safeguard the sea lanes as part of an international task force.
In an exclusive interview, the Chief of Navy said he had “complete confidence” his fleet could handle the rudimentary but lethal drone attacks, and that it was up to the Albanese government whether a ship was deployed in the mission to deter Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“This is a decision for government … This wasn’t a question of capability,” he said.
“This was a question of the government deciding where it wanted to focus its surface combatant force at the moment.”
With the government instead prioritising the Indo-Pacific, Vice Admiral Hammond said it was “too early to say” if the recent stabilisation in Australia’s relationship with China would result in reduced aggression from the People’s Liberation Army.
“Certainly the atmospherics seem to be a little different, but let’s wait and see what happens on the water this year,” Vice Admiral Hammond said.
Houthi rebels have launched hundreds of drone and missile attacks on merchant vessels and foreign warships in the Red Sea since the start of the IsraelHamas war, prompting a strong US-led response to maintain safe passage for 15 per cent of global seaborne trade.
Vice Admiral Hammond said the Houthi tactics prompted him to order an “assurance activity” through the Navy’s maritime warfare centre.
“I’ve got complete confidence in our radar and weapons systems on our surface combatant force,” he said.
“We need to continue to watch as these threats develop and proliferate, but yes, it is something that I think all professional navies need to ensure they are taking into account, and I can assure you that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Several leading military analysts suggested Australia’s refusal to send a ship to the Red Sea was linked to a lack of resources and effective counterdrone systems.
But Vice Admiral Hammond rejected those claims, saying that his review had not identified any necessary hardware upgrades to his existing fleet.
“We’ll continue to watch and learn from activities in the maritime domain, both in the Red Sea and the Ukraine theatre, and ensure that we optimise our capabilities and provide advice to government based upon those learnings,” he said.
With the government soon expected to reveal its response to a review of Australia’s surface combatant fleet, Vice Admiral Hammond said he was confident there was a “deep understanding at all levels” of the need for the Navy to have “the right tools and capabilities”.