Page 14 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2018
P. 14
NEWS REVIEW
SIA
Keeping Collins at the cutting edge
SUBMARINE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA | CANBERRA
Actions taken following the release of the 2012 study into sustaining the capability of Collins-class submarines, issued by John Coles, have been highly effective. Main- taining four (and sometimes five) hulls at sea will be critical to pursuing the training programs for both uniform and non-uni- form personnel in submarine-related areas, which will be essential for the Future Sub- marine program.
Given all of this, it is particularly relevant that the theme of the 9th Biennial SIA Con- ference 2018, which is coming up in Canber- ra from 6-8 November, is Collins Life of Type Extension – Issues and Opportunities.
The first Future Submarine is unlikely to be in service until the early 2030s and therefore, it is vital to Australia’s national security that our Collins-class submarines continue to be among the most capable con- ventional submarines at sea for the foresee- able future.
THIS time last year the Australian Govern- ment announced two major sustainment projects for the Collins-class submarines – one to address obsolescence in the control system and the other to improve their com- munications capability. Then in June 2018, the Government announced it would invest $542 million in a project to upgrade the so- nars on the Collins-class submarines.
While these projects are welcome, there are still gaps to be filled when it comes to en- suring the life-of-type extension (or LOTE) of the Collins will be such that Australia will not lose any submarine capability dur- ing the transition to the Future Submarines.
Unless we have overlooked it, the Govern- ment is yet to announce that it has commit- ted a block of funding for a specific Collins LOTE program and the Opposition is yet to
14 | October 2018 | www.australiandefence.com.au 09470 ADM Laser.indd 1
announce a similar, specific LOTE commit- ment. The SIA would welcome such com- mitments. In the interim, what we do know is that Defence has conducted extensive re- search into the Collins LOTE – since about 2012, in fact – and is well prepared for the program. It has engaged with other navies around the world who have been required to extend the life of their platforms to help inform planning in Australia for the future of the six Collins-class submarines.
The Collins LOTE program will also be important for testing and trialling emerg- ing technologies and capabilities which will play in an integral role in maintaining Aus- tralia’s regional submarine capability edge in areas such as stealth, sensors, processing, weapons, propulsion and endurance in the Future Submarines.
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