Senator Rex Patrick, writing in Australia’s useful website DEFENCE CONNECT, reports https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/maritime-antisub/2322-a-french-led-lithium-revolution-for-australia:
“Naval Group’s recently released Australian
Industry Plan [1] gave the strongest indication yet that
Australia’s Future Submarines will be powered by lithium-ion batteries. One
senator has argued such a decision could allow Defence to act as a catalyst for
lucrative commercial opportunities...”
All Following by Pete (generally
quoting Australian Government or Naval Group) NOT by Rex Patrick or Defence
Connect
[1] the declassified
on [May 10 2018] Plan (a very large PDF document, about 26 MB. 60
pages, including graphics) need to download
whole Plan onto your computer to rotate some of the tables (eg, page 19 and
21) ) was originally Drafted by November 27, 2015 by Naval Group (then DCNS)
and maybe Submission “17”. Up until
May 9, 2018 it as classified:
On top of page immediately below Minister for Defence's Cover letter is the crossed out caveats:
“SENSITVE
PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Contract
DMO/FSP/00419/2015/Clause – 9.5” [or 9.3]
Then on bottom of page:
“FOR OFFICIAL USE
ONLY
REL – AUS / FRA /
GBR / USA”
Pete Comment - it is understandable document was RELeased
to AUStralia, FRAnce and USA (a US company (Lockheed Martin chosen) was always to be Combat System Integrator and there was/is US program management advice overall). But why it was released to “GBR”, presumably Great
Britain(?), is a mystery.
Much blacked
out redacting follows, like
Some interesting pages of the Plan:
Top Cover Letter indicates document was released by Minister for Defence, Marise Payne letterhead, dated “10 May 2018”
page 19 - Australian
Maritime College (AMC) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, may handle “Hydrodynamics,
Naval Design and Maritime Engineering”. Summary Students form French naval
engineering establishments may spend 3 to 10 months at AMC on internships.
Defence Material Technology Centre (Victoria, Australia) may
handle “Materials and processes” like “welding” and “bounding”.
University of Newcastle (NSW, Australia) may handle “Bacterial and
microbiological corrosion”
page 21
[needs rotating]
[Pete Comment – The following Declassified
details on Lithium-ion Batteries are
non-committal. The large, blacked out, redacted bits prevent any conclusion.] Section
on “Lithium-ion batteries [mostly black line redacted] DCNS has been working on
lithium-ion battery technologies for many years with different partners” [big
redaction] Many research initiatives are also occurring in Australia both in
the defence space and in adjacent industries that could lead to technology
breakthrough. The” [big redaction].
page 42 – [list of] “Australian
Companies engaged by DCNS” [now Naval Group]
page 50 – [number of jobs
created] “Figure 13. Anticipated Employment Outcomes from the FSP [Future
Submarine Program]”
Much
else is of interest.
Pete
3 comments:
Hi Pete
GBR might suggest Thales UK's products such as non-hull pentrating optronic mast.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) LIB may be a candidate, but other type of LIB is possible.
Regards
Hi Pete
GBR might suggest Thales UK's products such as non-hull pentrating optronic mast.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) LIB may be a candidate, but other type of LIB is possible.
Regards
Hi Pete
Designation of GBR might be to due to Thales UK's products such as non-hull pentrating optronic mast which are key elements of modern submarine. In the past, Japan MoD payed 1 billion yen for optronic mast of Soryu, and supplyed it to KHI/MHI.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) LIB may be a candidate for Shortfin, but application of other type of LIB is possible. Naval Group has conducted R&D of LIBs for years and top management said LIBs was explosive. In this context, safety of LIBs should be fully discussed by stakeholders including submariners, logically explained by Naval Group /RAN and demonstrated by using proto-type submarine.
Regards
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