Page 91 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019

DELIVERING WORLD-CLASS ENGINEERED SOLUTIONS
• Modular Containerised Systems
• Gangways and Access Platforms
• Transport and Storage Solutions
• Support and Test Equipment
• Fabrication, Assembly and Integration
• Ship Repair and Maintenance
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by stress between large nation-states amid a background of the tensions created by radi- calised Islam, Australia should have the abil- ity to deploy two submarines continuously on patrol. While maintaining its peacetime sustainment capabilities, those two subma- rines should be able to occupy patrol areas well to the north of Australia; essentially in areas through which Australia’s ship-borne trade passes. The maths underpinning those requirements led to a conclusion that the number of submarines needed was 12.
This was an argument the Government accepted: a submarine force of 12 subma- rines was the centrepiece of the 2009 White Paper and it remains the key difference in the force structure currently being imple- mented by the Government compared with that of the previous 50 years.
Does this mean that a magic wand has been waved and that the challenges Austra- lia has faced in maintaining a force level of just six submarines will suddenly disappear? Or that the inherent jealousies that exist be- tween the various ‘tribes’ of the Navy (and indeed the rest of the ADF) will magically vaporise? Or that the distribution of popu- lation and industrial capability between each side of the nation will instantly equal- ise? Not at all.
HMAS Collins returns home to Fleet Base West after a successful deployment.