From Daily Escape

The Hobart class Guided Missile Destroyers are American-designed, Australian-built AEGIS equipped Air Warfare Destroyers in service with the Royal Australian Navy. They are made by the Australian Submarine Corporation, in South Australia. The design is based on the American Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyers.

The ships are closer to cruisers in overall performance, having 128 Mk-41 VLS cells for Standard missiles, VL-ASROC, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (rarely carried). The ship also carries 16 Harpoon missiles in quad launchers.

The great firepower of these ships, combined with their size leads some to regard them as cruisers. It has been alleged that the ships were called destroyers in order to get them past the Senate Committee (which recalls the Royal Navy designating the Invincible class carriers 'through-deck cruisers').

There are four in service:

• HMAS Hobart
• HMAS Brisbane
• HMAS Sydney
• HMAS Achilles

HMAS Hobart underway

[edit] Specifications

Displacement	10,000 tonnes
Length	544 ft (165.9 m)
Machinery	4 General Electric LM2500 COGAG; two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW)
Speed	30+ kts
Armament	One 5 inch (127mm/L62) Mk-45 Mod 4 (lightweight gun) One 20mm Phalanx CIWS One RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher 16 RGM-84 Harpoons in 4 quad launchers 128 Cell VLS system (80 missiles fore, 48 aft) Usual combat load 80 Standard SM-2 32 BGM-109 Tomahawks 16 VL-ASROC 2 Mk 32 Triple Torpedo Tubes for Mk 46 Torpedoes
Aircraft	2 S-70B-2 Seahawk