Page 51 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
SENATE ESTIMATES 51
RIGHT: A red carpet was included in an arrival ceremony for Prime Minister Scott Morrison at an undisclosed RAAF base.
strategic environment. Some of that involves adjustments to capabilities. Some of it involves recommendations to bring capability early. Some of it might mean modifications to capability.”
Discussing Future Submarine schedule, Vice-Admiral William Hilarides, a US member of the Naval Shipbuild- ing Expert Advisory Panel, disclosed that the Systems Functional Review, settling high-level final requirements to inform the design process and scheduled to have been completed by the end of January, was not expected to be completed until September.
Nevertheless, “getting into a systems functional review when we did, and having what I believe is a relatively clear path to exiting within this time period, is remarkable, con- sidering the conditions under which it occurred—particu- larly with COVID in Europe,” he commented.
Such a review did result, generally, in some trades be- tween cost schedule and performance inside the program between the government and the shipbuilder, he added.
Speaking of which, current estimated acquisition costs
for the 12 Attack-class submarines were confirmed by the General Manager Submarines, Greg Sammut, as $88 bil- lion, with sustainment anticipated at $140 billion out to 2080. Forecast expenditure for 2021 was $719 million, $60 million less than budgeted, largely due to COVID-19 issues.
In addition to capability from shipbuilder and designer Naval Group, the acquisition total included the combat system and its integration, the platform system, infrastruc- ture, IT, science and technology, initial logistical support, program office costs throughout the life of the program, and contingency, Sammut explained.
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