Page 22 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

22 DEFENCE BUSINESS SUBMARINES
JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
room, Combat Information Centre (CIC), sonar and Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system.”
Kockums is undertaking significant complex projects at the same time and its demonstrated expertise and knowledge of the Collins-class would seem to make it the perfect partner in Australia. The successful and timely completion of a LOTE
delivery of Collins LOTE. The delivery of Collins LOTE is progressing as scheduled and remains on track to com- mence with HMAS Farncomb in 2026.”
In response to ADM’s questions, Saab’s headquarters in Stockholm released the following statement: “Saab is engag- ing in positive ongoing discussions with ASC and our focus is firmly on working with our partners to provide high-quality and responsive engineering services, and to ensure the nation’s submarine capability is successfully upgraded and sustained.”
AN INTERIM SUBMARINE
Given both the nuclear-powered acquisition path and Col- lins LOTE each come with the risks described above, there is a growing argument for an interim conventional subma- rine of enhanced capability to bridge any capability gap in the 2030s.
Each Collins boat will be out of the water for at least two years, even if it does all go to plan, and the last will not begin the LOTE process until around the middle of the next decade. The process will also mean that at least one submarine will not be available to the Navy for more than a decade – a time period over which every ounce of strategic deterrence will be required.
The Collins design is an enlarged version of the Swedish Västergötland-class submarine and it’s worth noting that
“EACH COLLINS BOAT WILL BE OUT OF THE WATER FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS, EVEN IF IT DOES ALL GO TO PLAN”
program without significant input from Kockums therefore would seem to in- volve unacceptable risk. For its part, in response to ADM’s questions about the LOTE, a Defence spokesperson said Saab Kockums will play an “important” role.
“ASC is leading Collins class subma- rine life-of-type extension (LOTE) de- sign and implementation activities. De- fence continues to support ASC in its ongoing engagement with other com-
panies, including Saab Kockums,” the spokesperson said on 20 June. “ASC has engaged Saab Kockums to provide specialists to embed into ASC’s LOTE design team using a short-term arrangement, ahead of a longer-term contract being finalised.
“Contrary to recent uninformed reporting, ASC is ac- tively engaging with Saab Kockums and they have not been excluded from playing an important role in the successful
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