Some ships will be built in Adelaide, securing more than 3,000 jobs, while others will be sourced from US designs, with designs yet to be determined from Spain, Germany, South Korea or Japan. is.
Australia announced plans to buy at least three US-designed nuclear-powered submarines in 2021, canceling a multi-year program to develop French non-nuclear submarines that had already cost billions of dollars.
Although the Virginia-class submarines will be nuclear-powered, they are not expected to carry nuclear weapons, but instead carry long-range cruise missiles. These represent a step change in the country’s open water capabilities.
Experts say that taken together, Australia is poised to develop significant naval capabilities.
But the country’s major defense projects have long been plagued by cost overruns, government U-turns, policy changes and project plans that make more sense for local job creation than defense.
Michael Shoebridge, a former senior security official and now an independent analyst, said the government needed to overcome past mistakes and “there was no time to waste” as regional competition intensified. Stated.
“Delays and rising costs”
Mr Shoebridge said the procurement process needed to be cut, otherwise it would lead to “delays, construction troubles, rising costs and ultimately the system being overtaken, leading to ships coming into service too late”. It will be a pathway.” due to changes in events and technology.”
Convincing specific voters with promises of “continuation of naval shipbuilding” is not a priority, he said.
“This will only get in the way of the real priority: reversing the collapse of the naval fleet.”