Philip Smart | Adelaide
The Australian Government will run a 10-month evaluation of the capabilities of France, Germany and Japan to partner with Australia to develop our Future Submarine, before selecting a partner for design and construction.
Announcing the competitive evaluation strategy on Friday morning, February 20, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews said the three nations selected have proven submarine design and build capability and are currently producing submarines.
Contenders will be free to provide options for design and build overseas, in Australia, and/or a hybrid approach.
The criteria for selection will include pre-concept designs based on meeting Australian capability criteria, a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost and schedule for each option and positions on key commercial issues such as intellectual property rights and disclosure and use of technical data.
They will need to meet key strategic criteria including a design with similar range and endurance to the Collins Class submarine, sensor and stealth characteristics superior to Collins and a preference for using the combat system and heavyweight torpedo jointly developed between the United States and Australia.
Interoperability with American forces will also be a fundamental consideration.
“The Government expects that significant work will be undertaken in Australia during the build phase of the future submarine including combat system integration, design assurance and land based testing,” Minister Andrews said through his media release.
“This will result in the creation at least 500 new high-skill jobs in Australia, the majority of which will be based in South Australia.”
By limiting the evaluation to France, Germany and Japan, the Government has effectively excluded Swedish firm Saab and its Kockums subsidiary from the process.
While Saab has not yet commented officially on the exclusion, the company has expressed disappointment after indicating over the past week that it would be interested in forming a partnership with the Australian Government and stating it could deliver an Adelaide-built submarine within 10 years.