Australian Defence Minister, Kevin Andrews
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Minister Andrews' itinerary:
I originally wrote on April 15(using a report of April 10 in the Kieler Nachrichten) concerning Minister Andrews meeting the German and French Defence Ministers and visiting Kiel and Cherbourg. Now there is ministerial confirmation (April 21).
April 23, 2015 - Meeting German Defence Minister Dr Ursula von der Leyen, then Visiting TKMS-HDW submarine yard at Kiel, Germany.
Confirmed in Kiel's newspaper,
- Kieler Nachrichten, article of April 10 (Windows 7 or 8 or right-clicking mouse can translate into English). and
- Kieler Nachrichten April 23 indicated Ministers Andrews, when at TKMS-Kiel, was given a presentation on the HDW 216. He was also given information on submarines TKMS has been constructing for Israel (which are Dolphin 1s and 2s) and Egypt (which are Type 209s]
Confirmed in Kiel's newspaper,
- Kieler Nachrichten, article of April 10 (Windows 7 or 8 or right-clicking mouse can translate into English). and
- Kieler Nachrichten April 23 indicated Ministers Andrews, when at TKMS-Kiel, was given a presentation on the HDW 216. He was also given information on submarines TKMS has been constructing for Israel (which are Dolphin 1s and 2s) and Egypt (which are Type 209s]
April 24, 2015 – Meeting French Defence Minister Jean-YvesLe Drian and DCNS senior executives. .
- French website of April 21 reporting Minister Andrews visit to Chsubmarine .
- Kieler Nachrichten April 23 reported Minister Andrews was to be given a presentation by DCNS, Cherbourg shipyard on the "Scorpene." This may suggest DCNS is not calling its offer to Australia the "SMX Ocean" of "conventional Barracuda" but Scorpene-4000 (probably 4,000 ton (submerged?).
Ministerial Confirmation:
Ministerial Media Release on all this came on April 21.
Ministerial Media Release of April 23 of April 23 visit to German Defence Minister then TKMS-HDW at Kiel
Ministerial Media Release on April 24 of April 24 visit to French Defence Minister and to DCNS at Cherbourg.
- French website of April 21 reporting Minister Andrews visit to Chsubmarine .
- Kieler Nachrichten April 23 reported Minister Andrews was to be given a presentation by DCNS, Cherbourg shipyard on the "Scorpene." This may suggest DCNS is not calling its offer to Australia the "SMX Ocean" of "conventional Barracuda" but Scorpene-4000 (probably 4,000 ton (submerged?).
Ministerial Confirmation:
Ministerial Media Release on all this came on April 21.
Ministerial Media Release of April 23 of April 23 visit to German Defence Minister then TKMS-HDW at Kiel
Ministerial Media Release on April 24 of April 24 visit to French Defence Minister and to DCNS at Cherbourg.
The Ministerial Media releases were all informative and signify that Minister Andrews is serious about finding out what Germany-TKMS and France-DCNS have to offer in Australia's future submarine competition. This systematic openness is a welcome change compared to the practice of Ministers prior to 2015.
Minister Andrews spent ANZAC Day (April 25) at commemoration services in France and Belgium.
Still unknown if/when Minister Andrews is visiting Japan, including Tokyo to meet Defence Minister Nakatani then KHI and MHI submarine yards at Kobe, Japan
Still unknown if/when Minister Andrews is visiting Japan, including Tokyo to meet Defence Minister Nakatani then KHI and MHI submarine yards at Kobe, Japan
Accompanying Minister Andrews may be the Australian
Navy, Head Future Submarine Program, a senior executive of Australia’s
Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and perhaps a senior executive of ASC.
Pete
At Gallipoli Mr. Andrews can also ask his Turkish counterpart about the next Turkish submarine.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
MHalblaub
Hi MHalblaub
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the article http://www.kn-online.de/Lokales/Kiel/Australiens-Verteidigungsminister-Kevin-Andrews-besucht-U-Boot-Werft-in-Kiel of April 10, 2015, that triggered the Andrews visit expectation. I don't know if TKMS expects a visit or would be hopeful for a visit if Minister Andrews is to be in Turkey anyway.
Looks like the Turkish experience of buying the TKMS Type 214's has been better than Turkey's "friend" Greece's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_214_submarine#International_setbacks .
It could be that Greece has no money to buy all of its 214s and expects a WWII reparation discount like the reduced price TKMS Dolphin's to Israel.
Regards
Pete