Australia Urged To Have Confidence In Adelaide To Build Submarines, Frigates

Australia’s former chair of the national commission of audit has called on the government to allow the building of the country’s future submarine fleet in Adelaide. Tony Shepherd, the ex-president of Business Council of Australia, said the government should have confidence in the idea that frigates and submarines can be built in the country.

He believes local shipbuilding companies can do the job given the right procurement procedures and contractual arrangements. Shepherd added it was not fair to use the troubled air warfare destroyer project, which was three years late after going beyond the budget.

Shepherd said better examples of Australia’s capabilities in building were the Anzac frigates project and the Collins-class submarine project. The submarines were successfully constructed in Adelaide despite well-known problems with systems integration, reports The Guardian.

“We should have confidence that we can successfully build complex warships here, adding to our high technology base and giving us the intellectual property and local capability to maintain, modify and update naval vessels over a 30-year operating life,” said Shepherd, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute website.

The Australian government is now evaluating the proposals of three foreign countries to replace Australia’s ageing Collins-class submarines. It has not been agreed that the new submarines will be constructed in the country.

Shepherd said that the insights learned from past projects should be applied to the acquisition of new submarines. He added that the Anzac frigates and the Collins submarine projects followed well-established procurement procedures including careful identification of navy requirements.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty over Australia’s submarine project has only deepened since the announcement of the Abbott government’s competitive evaluation process. Japan, France and Germany are the three contenders for the submarine contract via a 10-month competitive evaluation process.

The evaluation process was outlined by Defence Minister Kevin Andrews last February. The Labor party had slammed the process for being a “sham” since Japan is almost assured of a win, reports the Australian Financial Review.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has expressed a clear preference for the Japan since the contract is expected to strengthen the defence and security cooperation between the two countries. Aside from the alleged preference, controversy rose over the issue that Australia’s next fleet of submarines should be built in Adelaide.

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