New Australia

Saving Billions on Naval Defence

Air Defence Destroyer HMS Coventry sinks after hit by two 1,000 lb bombs during the Falklands War (UK MOD)

"Surface warships and transport vessels are highly vulnerable - and susceptible - to air and missile attacks. This ugly reality has been demonstrated repeatedly since the early 1940s, but the message seems to be forgotten with remarkable regularity."

Carlo Kopp, Air Power Australia. (Warship Vulnerability)

"The only credible strategy for Australia in any major conflict is to abandon any attempt to achieve the kind of sea control needed to send amphibious forces against an adversary, and instead do all we can to make sure that the adversary cannot send its amphibious forces against us. This approach - a sea denial strategy - is much simpler and cheaper than sea control, and is the only strategy we have any chance of being able to sustain independently. So instead of wasting money on AWDs to implement a sea-control strategy that has no chance of working, we should invest instead in a large and capable submarine force, because they are the best way to achieve sea denial."

Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at ANU and a visiting fellow at the Lowy Institute.
(No defence to warship blowout)

Scrapping the Frigates

HMAS Farncomb destroys HMAS Torrens from over the horizon with one torpedo.(Wikipedia).

Despite Billions being spent on upgrades, the existing Frigates can not ethically be deployed to any serious conflict due to their extreme vulnerability. Some of the newer Frigates are still useful in maritime policing and fisheries protection roles and should be transferred to a new Australian Coast Guard. Older frigates and the elderly Kanimbla Class vessels should be decommissioned.

Expensive and futile attempts to improve the survivability of these vessels in the face of swarms of ever more sophisticated anti-ship weapons should be abandoned.

Cancelling the Destroyers & Corvettes

The Spanish F100 frigate 'Alvaro de Bazan' visiting Sydney in 2007. The Hobart class destroyers will be similar in appearance (Wikipedia)

The three proposed Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers are primarily for protecting ADF units invading other countries. While these vessels can provide some air-defence it is not clear how they (or any other surface combatant) can defend against sustained attack from submarine, air and shore launched anti-ship weapons. Newer warship designs (such as the new $US2.8 Billion Zumwalt Class Destroyers) would seem to be more viable but it is hard to see them being more cost-effective than equivalent spending on submarines.

In May 2009 it was announced that a further eight destroyers would be built, along with 14 new Corvettes (read frigates).

Off-The-Shelf Submarines

Labor's $100 billion defence plan has Australia building 12 new long range submarines over two decades to replace the current six Collins Class for a staggering $2 billion each.

Huge savings in time and money can be achieved by buying off-the-shelf diesel electric submarines for self -defence.

Rubin Submarines - Saving $6 Billion Plus

The Amur 1650 submarine. Click to enlarge. (Image: Rubin CDB non-nuclear submarines.)

Five or Six state-of-the-art Rubin diesel-electric submarines could be purchased for about the same price as one Air Warfare Destroyer and provide much more effective and survivable defensive capacity. (See articles on the right of this page documenting Rubin sub sales. See also Wikipedia entry on Kilos.)

Pictured above is one of the 'off the shelf' 'Amur' class submarine variants available for purchase. This needs a crew of just 35 compared to 58 on the Collins Class.

"The principle feature of 'Amur' class submarine is the capability of striking salvo missile blows at different targets. The sonar signature level of the submarines of this class is several times less in comparison with 'Kilo' class submarines which are considered at present the most silent in the world. The provision is made for the outfitting of the submarines of this class with Air Independent Propulsion on the basis of fuel cells thus permitting to increase considerably the submerged endurance and cruise range. Such plant with the stock of reagents is located in the special compartment-module which can be incorporated into the submarine during construction or in the course of repairs or modernization." - Rubin.

The Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) module allows fully submerged operation for days at a time.

One option is to buy a small number of submarines such as the above to augment the existing Collins Class fleet. Net savings from cancelling the proposed 3 Air Warfare Destroyers and purchasing about six diesel- electric submarines would run to about $6 Billion while significantly boosting Australia's defences.

Ideally CDB Rubin could be persuaded to build a production facility in Australia, or at least build maintenance facilities here.

Note that the range of the Amur 1650 is around 9,500 km while snorkling. Given NewZealand is 2,000 km away this should be entirely adequate for defensive purposes.

Kilo Submarine Safety

Safety is paramount for any defence purchase. We view diesel-electric submarines as inherently safer than surface naval vessels as they are hidden from anti-ship missiles.

We know of no accidents involving Kilo, Amur or Lada class Russian submarines.

There are many accidents involving Russian nuclear submarines - which we do not recommend. Here is a list of Russian Submarine Accidents. This list includes only three accidents involving diesel-electric boats. Of these only the ones involving the old (unrelated) Golf-Class ballistic missile submarines were serious. The accidents involving nuclear-powered Rubin submarines seem to have been caused by faults in reactors or torpedoes which were not made by Rubin. (An example is the Kursk disaster, which was caused by a faulty torpedo.)

"The (Kilo) submarine consists of six watertight compartments separated by transverse bulkheads in a pressurised double-hull. This design and the submarine's good reserve buoyancy lead to increased survivability if the submarine is holed, even with one compartment and two adjacent ballast tanks flooded." - Federation of American Scientists on the Rubin Kilo submarine safety.

Kockums Submarines

HMS Gotland onboard M/V Eide Transporter in San Diego. (Image: Wikipedia.)

Kockums manufacture the Gotland class submarine which features:

• Stirling engine air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, which extends their underwater endurance from a few days to about a month.
• High shock resistance.
• A high degree of automation allowing for a small crew of 24.

However this boat is smaller than the Amur 1650 (above), more expensive and has a shorter range.

Navantia Submarines

Navantia produce the Scorpene class submarines. These are smaller than the Amur 1650 and about $500 million each.

ASC Submarines

The Australian government-owned company ASC eventually built and now maintains the six Collins Class submarines we have now. It is believed that only three Collins Class are currently operational and all are subject to depth limits due to poor construction by ASC. ASC submarines are estimated to cost $36 billion for 12 submarines which are principally designed to attack other countries. See also ASC Future Submarines (PDF).

Nuclear Submarines - Not Recommended

Nuclear-powered submarines are inherently noisier than diesel-electric submarines as well as being much more expensive. New US Nuclear attack submarines cost over $US2.5 Billion each. The key advantage of nuclear submarines is their range which allows them to attack shipping far from Australia. Thus they are primarily an offensive weapons system. Because of their higher cost and noise profile, nuclear submarines are not a cost-effective defensive asset. Note that Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems are available on new non-nuclear submarines. This allows the submarine to remain fully submerged for days or weeks at a time. Note also that modern diesel-electric submarines can recharge their batteries at periscope depth in about half an hour and then run on batteries for over 24 hours.

Cancelling the Assault Ships

Navantia Large Assault Ship (Source: Wikipedia)

The proposed Canberra Class Large Amphibious Ships are again primarily for invading other countries. A key feature is the ability to land large numbers of tanks and deploy up to 8 helicopters simultaneously. These vessels are $A1 Billion each so cancelling this project saves $A2 Billion. In addition there is talk of equipping these vessels with the JSF-B which is the jump-jet (VTOL) version of the JSF. This could escalate this cost by $A2 to 3 Billion. It is not at all clear how these vessels could ever be defended from modern anti-ship weaponry.

The Incat Option - Saving $1 Billion

Incat 98m wave piercing catamaran design (Source: INCAT Tasmania).

Smaller wave-piercing catamarans built by Incat Tasmania (above) can be purchased for a fraction of the price of the larger assault ships. Incat ferries would be able to rapidly shift light armoured vehicles and helicopters to regional problem areas and provide timely humanitarian assistance. This can be supplemented by the RAAF's existing air lift capability.

These vessels can travel at up to 75km/h. Their non- magnetic all-aluminium construction, shallow draft and high speed gives them a degree of protection from mines & torpedoes. However, they are still quite vulnerable and should not be used in a conflicts where they are likely to be exposed to missile attack.

A Recovery Assist, Secure Traverse (RAST) system should be fitted to these vessels to allow safe launch and recovery of RAST- equipped helicopters in most sea states. Consideration may also be given to angling the sides of these vessels to reduce radar visibility as per the experimental Sea Shadow.

Collins Subs are Lemons

13^th Dec 2011: The first part of a review into Australia's Collins Class submarines has identified significant systemic problems. more...

New Destroyers are Lemons

27^th Sep 2011: Hugh White's devastating critique of Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer project - A Must Read article! more...

Torpedo Fiasco

26^th Aug 2011: The anti-submarine MU90 torpedo project has taken 13 years and will cost $655 million - and the manuals are only in French and Italian. more...

Buy INCAT

7^th Mar 2011: Australia should rent or buy INCAT fast catermarans to replace rust bucket Manoora, Kanimbl and Tobruk, says Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Andrew Davies. more...

ASC subs poor value

19^th Feb 2010: "Australia's insistence on maintaining a strong defence industry means it pays vastly more than other nations for its equipment, a study has found." more...

ASC subs broken

11^th Feb 2010: Two of Australia's six trouble-racked Collins class submarines will be out of action for a combined total of at least nine years. more...

ASC subs to cost $36 billion

30^th Oct 2009: Twelve missile-carrying submarines to be built for the navy will cost more than $36 billion, or more than $3 billion each, an expert report has found. more...

Nuclear Subs?

17^th July 2009: Navy League pushes for nuclear subs. more...

$15 Billion for Subs?

20^th Feb 2009: Rudd government announces it wants to spend $15 billion on new submarines - a staggering $2 billion each. more...

Sea Sprites finally dead!

6^th Mar 2008: After wasting a staggering billion dollars on eleven helicopters this project is finally dead...but the (suicidal?) idea of firing short range missiles from slow moving aircraft launched from vulnerable frigates still seems to be on the agenda - we just need another helicopter! more...

The 20 minute destroyer?

20^th Feb 2008: US Defence experts estimate the best surface vessels would only last 20 minutes in a major conflict. So how many minutes would one of our Frigates last?  more...

Global Security on Kilos

"The Kilo is considered to be to be one of the quietest diesel submarines in the world...China was negotiating with Russia to purchase eight more Kilo-class Project 636 submarines for $US1.6 billion".. more...

FAS on Kilos

The Federation of American Scientists on Kilos: more...

Indonesia buys 2 Kilos

5^th Sep 2007: Indonesia will acquire two of the most advanced conventional submarines built by Russia, 22 helicopters and 20 tanks for $A1.2 Billion. more...

Indian Kilos

"These boats have been nicknamed 'Black Hole' by NATO for their silent operation". more...

Amur-1650's @ $M330 each

22^nd Feb 2007: Venezuela is reported to be interested in nine submarines type AMUR1650, at a cost of some $3 billion including AIP. more...