Sustainment: Collins: A boat designed to sink and float | ADM September 2012

When the Collins submarines work, they are a world-class capability. The issue has always been getting the reliability issue sorted on a platform that was not built with sustainment in mind. The new In Service Support Contract (ISSC) is aiming to change that.

A new maintenance and support contract for the Collins Class submarines has been signed following negotiations between the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and ASC Pty Ltd. The In Service Support Contract (ISSC) has been put in place to deliver more efficient and effective sustainment services that will improve the availability and reliability of the Collins submarine fleet.

The Coles Review into Submarine Sustainment emphasised the importance of entering into the ISSC. Coles described it as a “game changer” for Collins sustainment noting that there were perceptions that the ASC was operating inefficiently on a cost-plus contract for sustainment.

Having commenced on 1 July 2012, the new ISSC is a rolling five-year contract with options to be exercised subject to satisfactory performance. It replaces the Through Life Support Agreement (TLSA) entered into in 2003, which failed to deliver the required operational outcomes for Navy. In May, the Government allocated an additional $700 million for Collins Class submarine sustainment as part of the 2012-13 Defence Budget.

ASC managing director Steve Ludlam, said that this would mark a new era for the maintenance of the Collins Class submarines.

“This experience and the lessons learned have provided valuable input in creating the new ISSC to ensure performance and efficiency continues to gain pace,” he said.

The new ISSC contract is a performance-based contract aimed at or focusing on delivering the Navy the required outcomes in terms of the support and availability requirements for Collins Class.

“The difference between ISSC and TLSA specifically is that ISSC moves towards what we see as a performance-based framework where as in the TLSA there were some incentives in it but it wasn’t really a truly performance based contract,” Stuart Whiley ASC’s general manager Collins Class submarines, said.

The intention of the contact will get some longevity in its timescale and allow the submarine enterprise partners to invest their time and money more effectively as all players have an increased degree of certainty.

“The TLSA contract only ran on an annual basis therefore we were restricted in terms of horizon and what we could and couldn’t do in terms of a planning perspective,” Whiley explained to ADM.

“Whereas ISSC allows a longer horizon and more optimisation for better outcomes beyond the annualised process.

“It allows us obviously to improve our planning, allocation of resources, to level load our capacity. It allows us to invest for improved performance and get the more optimal outcome for the Navy. It allows us to invest in establishing long term supply contracts with an outside agency to broaden the outside support to Collins Class.

“ISSC is driving to a much broader supply base and a greater industry diversification and capabilities to support Collins in-country.”

Under the new construct, ASC is acting as the platform system integrator where they are responsible for the certification baseline and coordinate third party work on board on the boat.

ASC is also moving into a single supply chain agency where it will be the single agency responsible for all the supply chain issues as they relate to the platform.

“We are looking to broaden the use of SMEs,” Whiley said. “One of the things we’ve got as part of the make-buy solution is how we can use Australian industry to skill and maintain the Collins Class. This will also help the industry position itself for opportunities on the Future Submarine.”

Previously the supply chain was split between ASC, Navy and the DMO. There will now be a single point of contact for other players down the line. ASC estimates that one in three dollars spent on Collins sustainment goes to supply chain companies in one form or another.

Sharing the pain and gain

The new contract also has the ability to share the pain and the gains between the players. But ASC is more focussed on the outcome of the program rather than the contract fine print.

“We are about delivering a nation building capability, specifically engineering based,” Whiley said. “What we are trying to develop is a capability that really will contribute to the country’s capability and basically create a foundation for us to move forward from the submarine industry world. The future submarine is there but you need the engineering capability to develop that. This is part of that foundation for both current and future work.

“An added incentive for us to perform is to develop that core engineering skill base to be able to deliver on Collins and development the capability further. If we perform well we get more and if we perform badly we get less. It’s a fairly traditional performance- based framework. We don’t jump in straight away, there is a transition phase of two years that basically gets us ready and aligns both ASC and the other stakeholders to a space where we are all collaborating to actually deliver on the outcome.”

The Coles report also highlighted the dysfunctional relationship that has developed between the players in the Collins sustainment effort. With a change of people all round the enterprise at a leadership level, these behaviours are being slowly, but surely, laid to rest.

“We need to have all three key stakeholder aligned in terms of working toward a single objective and that is aligned both vertically and horizontally through the organisation so at all levels everyone is working toward a common set of goals and objectives,” Whiley explained to ADM.

“Our environment is very complex and not always black and white and we need to be able to have the conversation but also deliver the optimal outcome for the Navy.”

The transition program has two main factors; technical and people that are geared towards an outcome. ASC is also looking at processes, culture, training of personnel and how that needs to be modified to deliver.

“This is a watershed moment for Collins Class and it’s an opportunity for not only ASC but all stakeholders to make a change,” Whiley said. “This is an opportunity to change and deliver a different paragon that puts some of those old perceptions to rest effectively.”

Technical issues

In 2006, it was identified that the banding material around the armature inside the submarine’s main motor was showing signs of delamination. The issue was only prevalent in a limited number of the submarines, with varying levels of delamination noted. Analysis identified the defect was caused by a design error resulting in over tensioning of the banding material of the main motor by the OEM.

ASC developed a number of options for the conduct the repair, the most conservative was to cut the aft section of the submarine, remove the motor and return to the OEM for refurbishment. However, ASC demonstrated that conducting an insitu repair was a preferred repair option despite such a repair not having been conducted previously.

In order to validate the analysis and to develop and validate the complex repair process, a test rig which duplicated the relevant sections of main motor was built. After extensive trials, the optimal combination of materials, tension, curing time and temperature was developed.

During implementation, the main motor was split, with the 32 tonne armature being lifted within the submarine and slowly rotated as the new banding material was applied and cured. Extensive instrumentation ensured that the optimum conditions were maintained throughout the process.

Multiple iterations of the banding and curing process were conducted, varying application tension, lay-up of the band material and curing conditions. After each iteration, the bands were removed and submitted to DSTO for testing.

The final application of the band material was based on the most successful combination of the numerous variables during the earlier iterations. During the development and implementation of the repair solution ASC worked closely with DSTO and Directorate of Submarine Engineering (DSME). The main motor in HMAS Rankin has now been repaired, with other submarines to undergo repair when required.

“From an engineering perspective it’s a world-class solution, it really demonstrates what great engineers Australians are,” Whiley proudly said. “We tend to undermine our capabilities but this is a great example of a great initiative and great solution to a very difficult and complex problem and having seen it you will probably agree with that.”

Man hours

Much is made of the million man-hours it takes to complete a full cycle docking for a Collins class submarine. The new contract is aiming to get that figure down substantially to 800,000 hours. Some of the OH&S issues that increase man hours, such as having someone inside the tank while work is going on outside and increased need for rest times after working in such cramped conditions. If you weren’t friends with your workmates before working on a Collins class you would be afterwards, sharing such a tight space.

“I don’t think people appreciate for example that we have to strip all the diesels down to component parts, get them through the hatches and reassemble them back inside the engine inside the boat,” Whiley said.

Part of the work in the full cycle docking that takes a significant amount of time is looking for cracks and corrosion on the pressure hull. A team of engineers literally climbs all over the inner pressure looking for defects, dents and any corrosion which is logged for future reference (to see if a particular area is prone to issues), assigned a job number to be repaired and then corrected as needed. Each and every step of this process has safety and repair paperwork requirements. This is all part of effectively tracking performance.

“It’s complex, but if you do repairs on the hull you can actually change the hull strength,” Whiley explained to ADM. “So you have to understand the implications of previous repairs on new work.

“It’s a very detailed process. I’ve been in Defence for 35-years in shipbuilding, and maintenance work on submarines is the most difficult and complex work there is.”