Page 52 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep 2021

52 SENATE ESTIMATES
SEPTEMBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Harbour trials of the first Attack-class boat continued to be scheduled for 2030 with sea acceptance trials starting in mid-2031 and delivery and operational test and evalu- ation commencing in late 2032. Declaration of full opera- tional capability by Chief of Navy was anticipated in 2034, Sammut stated.
The nominal drumbeat of one submarine being complet- ed every two years was unchanged, although the produc- tion rate could be increased, if necessary.
Meanwhile a draft of the update to the national shipbuild- ing plan had been circulated within departments in Novem- ber 2020 and would go to government in September, Tony Dalton, Deputy Secretary National Naval Shipbuilding in the Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG), disclosed.
THE FUTURE FRIGATES
Taking up concerns with the $44 billion Future Frigate program, the Estimates process again proved its worth by eliciting information not only forewarning of potential de- lays to the Hunter-class but providing valuable background to the delay in construction of up to 18 months eventually announced by the Defence Minister on 31 July.
Two months earlier Sheryl Lutz, first Assistant Secretary Ships at CASG, had advised the 1 June Estimates hear- ing that the maturity of the UK Type 26 reference design for the Hunter-class program had been affected by COVID “and that is impacting how we work through our combat system changes that are the mandated government changes to the Type 26.”
These she noted as the Aegis combat management sys- tem, the Australian-developed CEAFAR2 phased array ra- dar, the Lockheed Martin MH-60R naval combat helicop- ter, and Australian-specific weapons and communications.
Options to government for the start of construction were being progressed as part of a systems definition review and would be completed in one to two months, Lutz said at the time. And the Dutton announcement was then made al- most precisely as predicted.
ADM was subsequently told by a government spokesper- son that the construction delay “will enable greater design maturity and a more efficient build phase.”
Time lost in delaying construction of Ship 1 would be recovered – sources separately said by Ship 4, but not how – and all nine frigates would still be delivered by 2044, as planned and within the $44.1 billion budget, the spokes- man said.
Other concerns raised earlier at Estimates included the 8,200 tonne ‘light ship weight’ of the Hunter-class and a weight growth margin of just 270 tonnes, or 3.3 per cent.
“We’ve come from a reference ship design, and we had space and weight envelopes which (designer and shipbuilder) BAE had to adhere to for the mandated changes,” said Lutz.
“I suppose there’s always risk when you’ve got a smaller weight growth margin, but, throughout the fleet, Navy has managed small growth margins and maintained the ships,” she added.
Although the Hunter-class was heavier than the UK Type 26, the range, speed and acoustics of the Australian ship would not be affected thanks to changes to the hull being funded by Australia and possibly incorporated in batch 2 of the UK Type 26’s, Lutz stated.
Full displacement weight of the UK ships is about 8,800 tonnes; that of the Hunter-class was still to be de- termined but was expected to be around 10,000 tonnes, Lutz disclosed.
Construction of the UK’s Type 26 first-of-class Glasgow began in 2017. Glasgow was originally expected to enter service in the early 2020s but delays have put that back to 2027. The second and third ships will follow at intervals of up to 18 months. ■
LEFT: Secretary of Defence Greg Moriarty during a visit to Puckapunyal Military Training Area.
“THAT’S A LOT OF TRANSACTIONS AND ATTENTION FROM A VERY SENIOR PUBLIC SERVANT MAKING SURE SOMEONE DOESN’T TURN UP TO ANSWER QUESTIONS”
Publication would follow gov- ernment decisions on several is- sues, including the future loca- tion of Collins-class full-cycle docking (FCD), confirmation of the schedule for the Collins-class life-of-type extension program, and where the Hobart-class air warfare destroyer combat system upgrade would be conducted. Current planning anticipated that the Collins’ life extension
activity would begin with HMAS Farncomb in 2026. Should FCD be moved from SA to WA, three to four years would be sufficient to ensure the requisite infrastruc- ture would be in place, and around four years would be
required to manage the workforce risk, Dalton said.
Past evidence by ASC that a six-year gap would be neces- sary assumed that a move might require entirely new infra-
structure to support FCD, Sammut commented.
If existing infrastructure was made available – “and we believe it could be made available to support FCD in the West” – that would reduce the timeframe required for a
decision from six to three or four years, he stated.
When asked, neither the Secretary nor Sammut could recall which minister had first requested that options be
developed for a possible FCD move to Western Australia.
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