The announcement in the 2013 Defence White Paper that Navy’s Armidale Patrol Boat replacement program will be fast-tracked has been widely received by industry as a logical step, particularly given the increased efforts to keep the existing boats at sea for much more time than originally envisaged.
And while opinion varies as to whether the early construction of 14 or 15 patrol boats will have any meaningful impact of the so-called Valley of Death being faced by Australia’s shipbuilding industry, the consensus is that any naval shipbuilding program is better than none.
However with construction of Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) hull blocks now tapering off and work well advanced on the superstructure of Navy’s second LHD, there are no naval shipbuilding programs actively underway and so the timing of both the Patrol Boat project and the Operational Support Ship (or ships) under Sea 1654 is critical.
The patrol boats were originally to have been procured under Sea 1180, which sought a modular design to fulfil the Patrol Boat, Mine Countermeasures (MCM) and Hydrographical Survey roles. With the patrol boats now almost certainly decoupled from Sea 1180, it will remain to be seen how the other two requirements are filled.
2013 Defence White Paper
According to the White Paper, the government’s intention is to replace the current Armidale Class patrol boats with a proven vessel to ensure Defence can continue to provide a patrol capability.
A Defence Spokesperson said that no decision had been taken on whether this will be managed as a project in its’ own right or as a phase of another project. “Government’s desire to fast-track the patrol boat means that Defence will be investigating options based on proven patrol-boat designs,” said the spokesperson. “Detailed assessment of options has not yet been made, but will be the subject of industry solicitation.”
Because it will be a ‘proven’ design, the original modular option can therefore be ruled out, but the timeline will be dependent upon the yet to be released 2013 Defence Capability Plan (DCP).
“The timeline is currently under development with the 2013 DCP (and) will be driven by the need to replace the Armidale Class patrol boats at the end of their life and to ensure continuity of patrol capability,” noted the spokesperson.
Then Minister for Defence Materiel Dr Mike Kelly has also linked the accelerated program with the looming shipbuilding break in production. At the recent South Australian Defence Industry Association’s Leader’s Debate, Dr Kelly said that the government intended to fill the Valley of Death by bringing forward the Auxiliary Oiler and Replenishment (AOR) support ship and patrol boat programs.
At the present time, the Life of Type for the first of the Armidale vessels is 2020, with a five-year extension option, but industry will run out of work long before then. This also assumes that the Armidales will not have an increased rate of work. BAE Systems will run out of work in its Williamstown shipyard in 2015, with work already beginning to taper off as the remaining AWD hull blocks are completed, and the Forgacs facility in Newcastle faces the same reality.
Sea 1179
Despite Defence’s position that a decision has not yet been made whether to conduct the Armidale replacement under Sea 1180 or a separate project, industry is already referring to the program as ‘Sea 1179’.
“The patrol boat project will be Sea 1179, you can certainly take that as read,” said one industry observer. “I don’t think there’s being a lot of grey matter applied to Sea 1180 anymore, it’s all been applied to 1179.”
Defence has released little or no details about its requirements for the new patrol boats, other than it should be a proven design, so in the absence of an RFT, it has been left to industry to speculate whether a steel or aluminium hull is required, or what sort of gun (if any), or if an aviation capability is desired.
It is understood that there will be no money for increased infrastructure at the patrol boat bases in Darwin and Cairns, which will limit the size of the new design to a maximum of 80 metres. Defence has in the past stated its preference for more internal volume than is currently available in the 56-metre Armidale boats and the new vessels are understood to be capable of carrying a larger Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), so it is likely that the new patrol boats will be somewhere between 70 and 80 metres long.
There is speculation also that one of the Commonwealth’s requirements will be for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveillance capability, which can be launched and recovered aboard ship, with opinion divided as to whether a fixed or rotary-wing capability is preferred.
An industry perspective
Sean Costello, executive general manager Strategy & Communications for South-Australian based shipbuilder ASC says it is their corporate intent to bid for both the patrol boat and remaining Sea 1180 requirements.
“We intend to participate in both programs and we’re examining our customer’s needs and hosting conversations with potential program partners,” he said to ADM.
ASC does not have its own design and would look to an existing patrol boat designer.
“Our production capability is here in Adelaide and our starting place would be here,” Costello said. “It’s more likely we would consolidate a given design in Adelaide, but we may partner with another production company who may wish to consolidate production in their yard. We’re pretty open-minded really.”
Austal, manufacturers of the Armidale patrol boats, is currently building the 58-metre Cape-class patrol boat for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Former deputy Chief of Navy and now Austal’s executive vice president Defence, Davyd Thomas says the company sees synergies between this vessel and the Sea 1179/1180 requirement.
“We’re very interested in the replacement patrol boat and we believe that the Cape-class can be adapted to meet Navy’s needs,” he said. “The lessons learned from Armidale have been incorporated into Cape and we believe that Defence can leverage off Cape and the Customs and Border Protection Service to meet its own needs in a very cost-effective and efficient way, from the outset of build and through life. The last of the eight Cape ships is currently due to complete in August 2015 and so an ongoing continuous build for Navy would provide significant advantages and savings for the Commonwealth.”
BAE Systems also says it is interested in both the patrol boat project and Sea 1180 beyond and Bill Saltzer, Director, Maritime, says the company has multiple proven designs made from both aluminium and steel and ranging in size from 32 metres to 90 metres to chose from.
“We would look at the best industry model to undertake the build program,” he said to ADM. “Depending on the nature of the design, the type of material and schedule requirements, we would be willing to subcontract some significant aspects to other companies that are also in need of work to maintain capability. We would also look to maximise the use of Australian supplier’s/SME’s.
“The patrol boat contract would allow us to maintain critical naval shipbuilding skills while the Future Submarine and Future Frigate projects are developed. Considering also the urgent need for the Royal Australian Navy as identified in the Defence White Paper, it is therefore critical that government acts quickly on procurement of these patrol boats, rather than undertaking a multi-year tendering process.”
Barry Shrimpton, the Australasian representative of Italy’s Fincantieri says his company has designs which satisfy standard international requirements for patrol vessels and is also interested in participating.
“We will most likely bid for the patrol boats (and) at this stage we assume that we will bid for Sea 1180, however it will depend on the final requirements,” he explained to ADM. “We are not sure what the requirements are going to be for the patrol boats, but we would envisage that they will be steel-hulled and most probably with a helicopter capability. The reports we hear are that they are to be fast-tracked so we would expect movement on the definition and acquisition process before the end of the year.”
Shrimpton said Fincantieri would typically prefer to be a prime and would make a decision on where to construct the vessels in conjunction with the customer, but both decisions would be taken on a commercial basis.
“We could partner with an Australian shipyard or alternatively we could acquire an existing yard,” he detailed.
As work on the fabrication of hull blocks for the AWD program begins winding down, Forgacs is looking towards the patrol boat requirement as a possible means of keeping naval shipbuilding skills.
“We would like to be part of what the Armidale replacement strategy will be,” said David Miller, managing director Shipbuilding, adding that Forgacs can work in either aluminium or steel. “Our internal strategy is to first of all to follow what the government does and where the Navy wants to go and listen to what the customer wants.
“This will be a very large project and I would anticipate that Forgacs would look to partner with a prime. That might be a company that specialises in mission systems and integration or a pure shipbuilding prime and we would construct part or all of the vessel. We would want to be a very reliable, dependable partner for a prime contractor.”
Industry observers predict that if a break in naval shipbuilding capability is to be largely avoided; metal must be cut on the first patrol boat in the middle of next year. Given the delays caused by the September Federal Election, the need for the project office (be it 1179, 1180 or even a third project) to prepare an RFT, circulation and evaluation time of that RFT, and then down-selection and contract negotiations to take place, there isn’t much time.
