The Hunter-class frigate is a future class of heavy frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to replace the Anzac class. Construction is expected to begin in 2022, with the first of nine vessels to enter service in 2031. The Program is expected to cost AU$35 billion and a request for tender was released in March 2017 to three contenders: Navantia, Fincantieri, and BAE Systems as part of a competitive evaluation process. The genesis of the Future Frigate Program came in 2009, when the Rudd Government’s Defence White Paper signalled Australia’s intent to "acquire a fleet of eight new Future Frigates, which will be larger than the Anzac-class vessels" with a focus on anti-submarine warfare. With an initial tender expected in 2019–20, in 2014 the Abbott Government announced that work had been brought forward, funding a preliminary design study focussed on integrating a CEAFAR Radar and Saab combat system on the hull of the Hobart-class destroyer. Following a report by the RAND Corporation into options for Australia's naval shipbuilding industry, the Government announced an $89 billion naval shipbuilding plan. This plan brought the schedule of the Future Frigate Program forward by three years and announced a "continuous onshore build program to commence in 2020" in South Australia. A competitive evaluation process was announced in April 2016, with Navantia, Fincantieri, and BAE Systems revealed as the contenders to design the ships. In June 2018, the BAE Systems Type 26 was selected as the winner. From Wikipedia
