On April 7, 2020 I wrote:
"Due to announced
future spending of more A$200 Billion on COVID-19 the Australian Government
will eventually announce severe payment delays in big ticket naval defence
projects....including the...9 x Hunter class future frigates to
cost more than A$35 Billion for the RAN...Major contractors, including...BAE Systems (Hunter
class), will find their projects may be delayed 2 to 5 years."
On July 6, 2021 Andrew Tillett, for the
Australian Financial Review (AFR), reported:
"The start of construction of the
navy’s $44 billion new fleet of [Hunter-class] frigates is poised to be
pushed back for up to 18 months after the Morrison government agreed to delay
the project because of issues with the design.
Work building the first frigate may not start in
Adelaide until 2024 [instead of "2022 as planned"]
...Defence
Department officials had foreshadowed at Senate estimates in May [2021] that
the project was facing hurdles because of coronavirus-related
disruptions and continuing design issues.
...The first of the nine frigates is meant to be
finished by 2029 and in service in 2031."
SEE THE WHOLE AFR ARTICLE
Pete Comment
Delays over the Hunter class project
may not necessarily be a bad thing. Originally they were to be commissioned
from 2027. This would have been premature for many of the preceding Anzac
class frigates which would have served less than 30 years.
But first Hunter in service in 2031 (or more
likely later) will mean many of the Anzacs will exceed their 30 year Use By
dates.
--------------------------------------------
Whether Covid causes a delay in the Attack class submarine program
remains to be seen. But I suspect yes, it would have. This is especially as
Covid has struck France more severely than Australia.
I'm assuming Covid has caused some delay in the Attack
class design work taking place at Naval Group's complex at Cherbourg. See: "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin: The Naval Group Cherbourg site specialises in
the design, construction, assembly, testing, dismantling and deconstruction of
submarines."
4 comments:
Hi Pete,
It seems that the TKMS type 212CD order is finally signed TKMS To Build Six Type 212CD Submarines For German And Norwegian Navies
"Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has officially been commissioned to build six identical Type 212CD submarines. The procurement organizations of Norway and Germany signed the corresponding contracts on July 8."
/Kjell
Hi Pete,
The delays for the Attacks is quite difficult to follow, from an amateur's point of view (ie, me) There's the newspaper articles, and then almost diametrically opposite, there's other opinions from defense industry people in another forum I won't mention.
The only thing I can say is that the attack's will be a long time coming, and that finger's crossed the long term planning works out, in given Australia it's own industry which can design and evolve the unique large conventional sub it needs for most of the 21st century.
Andrew
ps: I am sad I will likely not be alive to see the fully revamped RAN of 12 Attacks, 9-12 Hunters, 20 Arafura's, since that'll be 2040's/2050's
/Kjell
Thanks for your Type 212CD comment citing https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/07/tkms-to-build-six-type-212cd-submarines-for-german-and-norwegian-navies/
See my response at https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2021/07/tkms-finally-sells-212cds-4-for.html of July 11, 2021
Regards
Pete
Hi Andrew
Fortunately the Aus Gov is also talking about major upgrades to the Collins which may make them useful "interim subs" until the mid 2030s when the first 2 or 3 Attack class may be commissioned.
Major weapons programs in peacetime do often exceed the lifetime of people already 60 and over (like you and I). Only in wartime can a major new system, like the Mustang, go from initial orders, drawing board and mass production in months. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang#Design_and_development
"The prototype [Mustang] was rolled out in September 1940, just 102 days after the order had been placed; it first flew on 26 October 1940, 149 days into the contract, an uncommonly short development period, even during the war"
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Australia is part of the Aus-US "Loyal Wingman, Teaming..." consortium that may be representing the fasted development for a Western weapon system in the modern era
see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Airpower_Teaming_System
Cheers
Pete
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