Anzac

The Anzac class was acquired through a joint Australian and New Zealand programme based on the MEKO 200 design. Australia started the programme in the mid-1980s to replace older escorts and build modern frigates locally. The project was important not only for naval capability, but also for Australian shipbuilding and regional defence cooperation with New Zealand.

The ships were designed as long-range frigates capable of air defence, surface warfare, undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance, and interdiction. Their baseline capability was later strengthened through sensor, missile, combat-system, and sustainment upgrades. This upgrade path matters because a frigate class must remain useful over decades as threats, electronics, and weapons change.

Anzac-class ships became central surface combatants for the Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy, supporting deployments, exercises, patrols, and coalition operations. Sustainment has been a major policy issue because the class remained in service while replacement programmes matured. Its significance is therefore both tactical and strategic: it kept regional frigate capability available for decades.