"ASC “agnostic” on subs contract
TOM RICHARDSON
ADELAIDE | The
Defence Department has issued an edict to Government-owned shipbuilder ASC that
it must deal “fairly and equally” with all prospective international
contractors for the lucrative future submarines project.
The missive,
revealed today by SA Senator Nick Xenophon during a Senate committee hearing in
Adelaide, belies the Abbott Government’s public rhetoric that the Osborne-based
shipbuilder should pick an international partner with which to put forward a
joint bid.
Defence Minister
Kevin Andrews announced in February that the contract would be determined by a
“competitive evaluation process”, saying “for the best opportunity to maximise
their involvement in the program (ASC) needs to work with an international
partner”.
Just last week,
SA-based Liberal heavyweight Christopher Pyne urged Xenophon to “assist ASC in
putting together a competitive bid for the new submarine project as part of a
joint venture with another submarine builder”.
Xenophon today
quizzed ASC representatives to the Senate inquiry into the future submarine
project whether such a joint venture was actually allowed, “given your
instruction from defence”.
“You can’t act
on that on the basis that you’ve received quite reasonable instructions from
defence to deal with prospective international bidders in an even-handed
manner,” asserted Xenophon.
ASC’s chief
operating officer Martin Edwards said the company’s “role at the moment is to
help those potential partners understand the skills capability and where we can
assist, particularly because we’ve had many decades of shipbuilding in
Australia”.
He said a
potential design partner would not be known until the evaluation process was
completed.
“From as ASC
perspective, we’re agnostic in relation to whether it’s Japan or Germany or
France – we’ll work with any one of those,” Edwards said." See WHOLE ARTICLE.
COMMENT
It appears that as the German (TKMS) and French (DCNS) competitors have much greater experience than Japan in participating in major defence consortiums the Australian Government does not want to put Japan at the disadvantage of facing actual competition. Put another way the Government does not want ASC to choose an international partner on that partner's merits. The Government wants Japan's special position in the so-called "competitive" evaluation maintained.
Of course the Australia Government's hands are tied. The US has already selected Japan to win the "competitive evaluation process" and what the US says goes.
Pete
4 comments:
TKMS/DCNS and Japan are victims of fixed match and bad managed ACS, respectively. USA and China may be temporal and final winners, respectively.
Hi Anonymous
You may be suffering from poor translation software into English.
I take it by "ACS" you mean ASC?
By "temporal" you don't mean "non-spiritual" but real winner?
Yes China may indeed be the final winner from Australia's so far unfair "competitive evaluation process".
Regards
Pete
Hi Pete
1) I used “temporal” as transitory.
USA will successfully persuade Australia to adopt Soryu platform, and USA-AUS-JPN submarine defence system will effectively work for a while. According to Soryu submariners, Soryu is so silent that US Navy cannot detect her and that she can easily attack and sink any warship including aegis destroyer and aircraft carrier. If enemy copies such technology, all the warships of USA-AUS-JPN will be seriously endangered and we can not maintain current naval superiority.
2) I mistyped ACS for ASC.
Rigards
Anonymous (April 14, 2015 at 7:23 PM)
Dear Anonymous,
the Soryu is not the only submarine US Navy cannot detect. Swedish Gotland-class, South Korean (and soon Indonesia) Chang Bogo-class (Type 209) or German Type 212 are a few to name. Even Chinese diesel-electric submarines already surprised US carriers (with Aegis destroyer nearby as always).
Check RIMPAC exercises for Type 209 and http://seefahrer.blog.de/tags/westlant-deployment/ for Type 212.
Regards,
MHalblaub
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