M2HB .50 calibre machine guns in Mini Typhoon mounts have been installed when needed for Persian Gulf deployments. The sensor suite includes an AN/SPS-49 air search radar, AN/SPS-55 surface search and navigation radar, SPG-60 fire control radar connected to a Mark 92 fire control system, and a Mulloka hull-mounted sonar. Two helicopters can be embarked: either two S-70B Seahawk or one Seahawk and one AS350B Squirrel. The ship was laid down by AMECON at Williamstown, Victoria on 12 July 1985. She was launched on 5 May 1989. Melbourne was commissioned into the RAN on 15 February 1992. Operational history In 1996, the frigate was deployed to the Persian Gulf. Melbourne was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 20 January to 23 February 2000. In 2002, Melbourne participated in the third rotation of RAN ships to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Slipper, where she enforced United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In 2003, the ship returned to Iraqi waters in support of Operation Catalyst, protecting Iraqi territorial waters following Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, Melbourne was awarded the honours "East Timor 2000" and "Persian Gulf 2002". On 16 August 2010, Melbourne was deployed to the Middle East for the third time, again as part of Operation Slipper. During the six-month deployment, the frigate participated in anti-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea and responded to 14 distress calls from merchant vessels, including the British chemical tanker MV CPO China on 3 January 2011. Although it took six hours for Melbourne to close with CPO China, the merchant ship's crew secured themselves in the citadel, and the pirates retreated when the frigate and her Seahawk helicopter arrived. Melbourne returned to Sydney on 18 February 2011. Between 5 and 7 February 2014, while deployed off Tanzania, Melbourne seized and destroyed of heroin from smuggling vessels. On 18 February, while operating off Oman's Masirah Island, Melbourne and the Pakistani frigate PNS Alamgir intercepted and boarded a dhow found to be carrying of cannabis resin. In September 2018 Melbourne operated off the Korean Peninsula to enforce sanctions against North Korea as part of Operation Argos. Melbourne returned to Fleet Base East from her final deployment on 27 September 2019. She was decommissioned on 26 October 2019. On December 27, 2019, it was announced that she and Newcastle