Page 28 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021
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                    28 DEFENCE BUSINESS
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
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In addition to the hull insert, the MLUs included incorporating a diver lockout chamber into the forward part of the sail and introducing three new masts into the sail structure, one serving an optronic sensor head and two for communications.
“LOOKING AHEAD, A MAJOR LOTE SUPPORT ROLE AS A STRATEGIC PARTNER NOW APPEARS INCREASINGLY LIKELY FOR COLLINS’ DESIGNER SAAB”
ber security both during and after the pro- gram’s completion. This included a ban on workers taking cell-phones on board.
More than 20 of the new systems intro- duced under the Gotland MLU program had also been selected for the A26, reduc- ing risk, training costs and maintenance.
Replacing a number of outdated sys- tems proved less of an issue than expected – “you don’t have to worry about modify-
 Other enhancements included up-
grading the legacy AIP capability with
the latest Mk.4 Stirling engines, intro-
ducing a new navigation suite, and modernising the sen- sor package, the combat management and communications systems, and the submarines’ control room.
ing an obsolete system, you just cut the entire thing out and you’ve got open space to work in a replacement which is often more dense and more compact,” Keough commented.
“This is what ASC is looking at from a whole of platform approach; how you’d bring together the scopes of work and match capability with obsolescence.”
As confirmed by Defence, ASC will lead the work pack- ages for LOTE activities.
ASC WORKSCOPE
With the workscope for the program yet to be announced, Saab Australia was meanwhile building connections with ASC to understand some of the potential areas for consid- eration, and for ASC to understand Saab’s engineering base and experience, Keough said.
“Then it will basically be a judgement based on skillsets, capabilities and capacities,” he commented.
“ASC have cut the Collins-class submarines previously, they’ve got skillsets there. Saab is experienced in building ‘cans’ of equipment that are pre-modified, pre-manufac- tured such that when the submarine arrives for its LOTE they have been manufactured, they have been tested, and they’re good to go.
“So that’s something which may be beneficial. The platform management system is software-based and software and potentially hardware upgrades will be re- quired for that.
“So far as platform design and engineering changes are concerned it really comes down to the scope of work. We’d need to work out the appropriate roles and responsibilities with ASC and see where they think Saab could value-add to the activity”. ■
  Upgrades to numerous ancillary systems ranged from ex- haust valves and nuclear, biological and chemical protec- tion to gas monitoring and the weight compensation system.
GOTLAND AND COLLINS SYNERGIES
For Sverke Lindholm, Head of Strategy with Saab-Kock- ums, the MLUs for the two Gotland-class were “really, re- ally huge, the largest we have ever done.
“Gotland and Collins are siblings, they were produced during the same time period, they belong to the same de- sign philosophy, there are many similarities,” he told ADM.
“Now the Gotlands are more or less new submarines, and we would approach a Collins LOTE with a great deal of recent experience.”
In no particular order, lessons learnt included finding some systems in worse condition than anticipated, taking into account the latest SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) and IMO (International Maritime Organisation) regulations, the importance of a land-based test site for any prefabrication work, the importance of settling a basic design before mov- ing to more detailed planning, and new requirements for cy-
BELOW RIGHT: Saab’s Karlskrona shipyard in Sweden is among the world’s most modern
BELOW: A two-metre plug is added to
hull of Gotland-class HSMS Uppland as part of mid-life upgrade
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