Original armament for the ship consisted of a Mark 13 missile launcher configured to fire RIM-66 Standard and RGM-84 Harpoon missiles, supplemented by an OTO Melara gun and a Vulcan Phalanx point-defence system [REF].
Newcastle was laid down by AMECON at Williamstown, Victoria on 21 July 1989, launched on 21 February 1992 and commissioned into the RAN on 11 December 1993 [REF].