The Australian navy is set to acquire a new fleet of warships.
Eight vessels will be at the centrepiece of a major restructuring of the navy.
The long-waited navy surface fleet review will be released on Tuesday.
This comes as the government counters criticism of being slow to respond to the threat posed by China.
As part of the restructure, Adelaide's 45-billion-dollar Hunter-class frigate program will be maintained but reduced from nine ships to six.
