Australia Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

• n short: Vice-Admiral David Johnston will become the chief of defence force, replacing General Angus Campbell.
• Vice-Admiral Johnston will be the first defence chief from the navy in 22 years.
• What's next? He will take up the role from July, following the approval of the governor-general.

Chess Dynamics To Provide Surveillance Systems For Australia’s Hunter Class Frigates​

The Australian Surface Fleet Dilemma & Tier 2 – Naval News Analysis​

• Meko A-200 (TKMS/Germany)
• Mogami 30FFM (MHI/Japan)
• Daegu FFX Batch II/III (HHI/Korea)
• ALFA3000 (Navantia/Spain)

The Albanese government has been warned that the $5bn plan to extend the life of the navy’s ageing fleet of Collins-class submarines for another decade is a perilously high-risk endeavour that is not guaranteed to succeed.

An interim report and verbal briefings delivered to the government have revealed significant technical challenges to the planned $5bn Life of Type Extension to the six Collins-class submarines due to begin in 2026.

The classified assessment of the LOTE project, by former US navy deputy assistant secretary Gloria Valdez, was commissioned by the government last October to assess the viability of the plan to extend the life of the Collins boats to ensure that Australia “retains an enduring, potent and agile submarine capability”.

It is understood that Ms Valdez’s interim report delivered this month outlined extensive technical risks to the LOTE program, saying the size and scope of the planned extensions had never before been attempted on the bespoke Collins-class boats, which were built between 1990 and 2003.

Ms Valdez expressed concern that the government-owned submarine company ASC lacked the necessary design and engineering experience to extend the life of the submarines for a full decade.

She is also understood to have recommended that the Collins-class submarine’s original Swedish designer, SAAB Kockums, be given a larger role in ensuring the project’s success.

The LOTE will need the submarines to be largely rebuilt, with their hulls cut in half to replace the propulsion systems, diesel engines, generators, and the power conversion and distribution systems as well as upgraded command and control systems.

The chief executive and managing director of ASC Stuart Whiley told Senate estimates hearings in February that there were “no guarantees” with the LOTE outcome, saying it was a “first-of-class engineering task” that had not been done before and was “certainly a challenging technical program”.

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Lethe said:

Australia's chaotic submarine procurement plans mean that the existing Collins-class boats will have to go through a major overhaul and refurbishment process to extend their service lives for another decade while we await the nuclear promised land. The Albanese government has now been advised that the planned Collins life-extension program is "high risk" and that it is unclear if we have the necessary expertise to conduct it:

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Nonetheless, the government has confirmed that it is going ahead with the LOTE program because it is the only way of avoiding a significant capability gap as the Collins-class boats would otherwise retire before the nuclear-powered boats come online. The pièce de résistance of this situation is that even if everything goes to plan, the life-extension program still implies a diminution in our near-term capabilities as each boat is taken out of the water for up to two years. That is to say, despite all the rhetoric, in the real world, as with surface combatants, our submarine capability is actually going backwards. It's a truly remarkable display of ongoing incompetence.

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AndrewS said:

That works out to USD 550 million for each submarine.

You could buy a new Soryu for the same money. The smaller French and German SSKs would cost even less.

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Head of Navy Capability Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead said while one or two of the current Collins Class submarines were expected to have substantial reworking, all six in the fleet would need to receive some form of upgrading.

"[It is] to do with communications and sonars. [We are] aiming to get that submarine through — not just from a whole perspective, but a capabilities perspective — through into the 2030s," he said.

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Under questioning from Labor senator Penny Wong, the Chief of Navy insisted no decision on full upgrades had been made yet.

"Government has not yet made a determination as to how many Collins Class will be upgraded," he said.

"There will be a number that need to be upgraded and that number could be between three and six, depending on the nature of the capabilities that are available to put into that program as we go through the life of type extension."

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Foreign nationals who join the Australian Defence Force could have their citizenship fast tracked after 90 days of service. For the first time, non-citizens will be eligible to join the ADF, as the Defence Force struggles to meet recruitment targets.​

• In short: Australia's newest warship, HMAS Stalwart, is being urgently repaired after it broke down in Darwin.
• The ship was commissioned into service less than three years ago.
• What's next? The vessel will now remain in Darwin for an extended port visit as Defence investigates the issue.

lych470 said:

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• In short: Australia's newest warship, HMAS Stalwart, is being urgently repaired after it broke down in Darwin.
• The ship was commissioned into service less than three years ago.
• What's next? The vessel will now remain in Darwin for an extended port visit as Defence investigates the issue.

The Royal Australian Navy is a farce at this point.

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