Decision on new RAN frigate brought forward
Posted: 04 Mar 2017 01:25
Future Frigates selection set for faster course
The Australian 12:00AM March 3, 2017
Brendan Nicholson
Defence Editor
Canberra
The process of selecting the design for the Royal Australian Navy’s nine new Future Frigates will be accelerated by the federal government to save time and to ensure construction of the warships can begin in 2020.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told The Australian the number of competing combat systems being considered for the frigates had been reduced to the two which were considered to be the most suitable.
That would streamline the process of selecting the best vessels, Mr Pyne said. “We won’t be wasting time assessing things we will never use.” That would give the contenders more time to focus on other aspects of their bids.
Mr Pyne said that while the plan was to announce the successful bidder for the frigate in April 2018, the government hoped to bring that forward.
“I can’t guarantee we will be able to, but that is my ambition and we are working with the Department of Defence to bring that forward to an earlier announcement date in order to give the successful bidder more time to prepare for the 2020 cut-steel date.”
The RAN uses both the Aegis and Saab combat systems in its Anzac frigates and Air Warfare Destroyers. Given the navy’s familiarity with both and their interoperability, Defence will choose one of them for the new frigates.
Mr Pyne said the process of spending $195 billion on defence over 10 years had begun. “Making sure as much as possible of that is spent in Australia is really bearing fruit.”
This had already brought thousands of new defence industry jobs, many in hi-tech areas. Work had begun on Pacific Patrol Boats in Western Australia and three companies would tender by March to build the larger Offshore Patrol Vessels. The first of the OPVs will be built in South Australia.
The detailed request for tenders to build the nine frigates would be released in March, Mr Pyne said.
The three designers short-listed for the next stage of the frigate competitive evaluation program are Italy’s Fincantieri with its FREMM Frigate; Spain’s Navantia with a redesigned version of its F100 used for the RAN’s AWDs, and Britain’s BAE Systems with the Type 26 Frigate.
Mr Pyne said the French company, DCNS, was well into the process of identifying local companies to join the supply chain for its Future Submarine project.
The submarine project was going very well with the government to government contract signed with France and the design contract with DCNS.
A building was going up in the French city of Cherbourg as the workplace for as many as 100 Australian staff who will be sent there with their families to be trained in submarine design and to manage the construction of the shipyard facilities in Australia.
French streams would be opened up at Adelaide schools for the children of about 100 French staff who had come to Australia, Mr Pyne said.
“All of the practical requirements are fitting into place.”
Work was under way designing new facilities for the Adelaide shipyard in Osborne South and the government expected to receive drafts next month. Work on the infrastructure would start in the second half of this year. DCNS was designing its submarine yard to be built at Osbourne North.
“The shed for the submarine, forgetting all the other infrastructure, will be wider, higher and longer than the Adelaide Oval stadium,” the minister said.
Those facilities would be completed by 2022 when work was to start on the submarines, he said.
Building the infrastructure would occupy a significant part of the naval shipbuilding workforce in the lead up to cutting steel for OPVs, Future Frigates and then submarines. That would help keep the workforce in place at Osborne.
“Many of the workers who are there now will be able to work on that infrastructure construction,” Mr Pyne said.
“We will go from about 1800 people now at Osborne to about 5000 by 2023, so we have a huge job to do on skills and training and the workforce.
“We will have one of the most modern and busiest shipyards in the world at Osborne South and the most modern and one of the world’s busiest submarine yards at Osborne North.”
Mr Pyne said he wanted to keep the workforce maintaining the Collins Class submarines together because it was now at world’s best practice. “We don’t want to disturb that. We regard it as a sovereign ADF capability.”
Mr Pyne said what he calls “the national defence industry project” is a nation-building exercise with vast potential.
“These are nation-building projects and that’s what we’re seeing in the national accounts.” The numbers released this week saw federal defence spending up by 34.2 per cent in the quarter. The main factors were purchases of new aircraft for the RAAF.
“Malcolm’s [Turnbull] vision, which it’s my job to implement, is for Defence to drive hi-tech advanced manufacturing,” Mr Pyne said. “These will be high-value jobs which we can compete in with anyone in the world.
“It’s hard for us to compete in the making of T-shirts but we can easily compete in making submarines and ships because they are advanced manufacturing, hi-tech, high-value and highly-skilled jobs. We have the skills here to do that.’’
Australian companies were increasingly exporting hi-tech defence equipment from training systems and rifles to armoured vehicles and naval patrol vessels, he said.
Mr Pyne will soon travel to Canada to encourage the Canadians to buy Australia’s revolutionary CEA phased array radar system for their new warships. “CEA radar is one of our great success stories.”
Another success was the Nulka decoy system to protect ships from missiles. More than $1 billion worth had been sold overseas. Nulka was widely believed to have saved a US warship off Yemen recently when it came under attack, Mr Pyne said.
“We’re getting a lot of interest from countries which want it. Australian systems are proving to be effective and the best in the world.”
Brendan Nicholson is defence editor of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Strategist website.
The Australian 12:00AM March 3, 2017
Brendan Nicholson
Defence Editor
Canberra
The process of selecting the design for the Royal Australian Navy’s nine new Future Frigates will be accelerated by the federal government to save time and to ensure construction of the warships can begin in 2020.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told The Australian the number of competing combat systems being considered for the frigates had been reduced to the two which were considered to be the most suitable.
That would streamline the process of selecting the best vessels, Mr Pyne said. “We won’t be wasting time assessing things we will never use.” That would give the contenders more time to focus on other aspects of their bids.
Mr Pyne said that while the plan was to announce the successful bidder for the frigate in April 2018, the government hoped to bring that forward.
“I can’t guarantee we will be able to, but that is my ambition and we are working with the Department of Defence to bring that forward to an earlier announcement date in order to give the successful bidder more time to prepare for the 2020 cut-steel date.”
The RAN uses both the Aegis and Saab combat systems in its Anzac frigates and Air Warfare Destroyers. Given the navy’s familiarity with both and their interoperability, Defence will choose one of them for the new frigates.
Mr Pyne said the process of spending $195 billion on defence over 10 years had begun. “Making sure as much as possible of that is spent in Australia is really bearing fruit.”
This had already brought thousands of new defence industry jobs, many in hi-tech areas. Work had begun on Pacific Patrol Boats in Western Australia and three companies would tender by March to build the larger Offshore Patrol Vessels. The first of the OPVs will be built in South Australia.
The detailed request for tenders to build the nine frigates would be released in March, Mr Pyne said.
The three designers short-listed for the next stage of the frigate competitive evaluation program are Italy’s Fincantieri with its FREMM Frigate; Spain’s Navantia with a redesigned version of its F100 used for the RAN’s AWDs, and Britain’s BAE Systems with the Type 26 Frigate.
Mr Pyne said the French company, DCNS, was well into the process of identifying local companies to join the supply chain for its Future Submarine project.
The submarine project was going very well with the government to government contract signed with France and the design contract with DCNS.
A building was going up in the French city of Cherbourg as the workplace for as many as 100 Australian staff who will be sent there with their families to be trained in submarine design and to manage the construction of the shipyard facilities in Australia.
French streams would be opened up at Adelaide schools for the children of about 100 French staff who had come to Australia, Mr Pyne said.
“All of the practical requirements are fitting into place.”
Work was under way designing new facilities for the Adelaide shipyard in Osborne South and the government expected to receive drafts next month. Work on the infrastructure would start in the second half of this year. DCNS was designing its submarine yard to be built at Osbourne North.
“The shed for the submarine, forgetting all the other infrastructure, will be wider, higher and longer than the Adelaide Oval stadium,” the minister said.
Those facilities would be completed by 2022 when work was to start on the submarines, he said.
Building the infrastructure would occupy a significant part of the naval shipbuilding workforce in the lead up to cutting steel for OPVs, Future Frigates and then submarines. That would help keep the workforce in place at Osborne.
“Many of the workers who are there now will be able to work on that infrastructure construction,” Mr Pyne said.
“We will go from about 1800 people now at Osborne to about 5000 by 2023, so we have a huge job to do on skills and training and the workforce.
“We will have one of the most modern and busiest shipyards in the world at Osborne South and the most modern and one of the world’s busiest submarine yards at Osborne North.”
Mr Pyne said he wanted to keep the workforce maintaining the Collins Class submarines together because it was now at world’s best practice. “We don’t want to disturb that. We regard it as a sovereign ADF capability.”
Mr Pyne said what he calls “the national defence industry project” is a nation-building exercise with vast potential.
“These are nation-building projects and that’s what we’re seeing in the national accounts.” The numbers released this week saw federal defence spending up by 34.2 per cent in the quarter. The main factors were purchases of new aircraft for the RAAF.
“Malcolm’s [Turnbull] vision, which it’s my job to implement, is for Defence to drive hi-tech advanced manufacturing,” Mr Pyne said. “These will be high-value jobs which we can compete in with anyone in the world.
“It’s hard for us to compete in the making of T-shirts but we can easily compete in making submarines and ships because they are advanced manufacturing, hi-tech, high-value and highly-skilled jobs. We have the skills here to do that.’’
Australian companies were increasingly exporting hi-tech defence equipment from training systems and rifles to armoured vehicles and naval patrol vessels, he said.
Mr Pyne will soon travel to Canada to encourage the Canadians to buy Australia’s revolutionary CEA phased array radar system for their new warships. “CEA radar is one of our great success stories.”
Another success was the Nulka decoy system to protect ships from missiles. More than $1 billion worth had been sold overseas. Nulka was widely believed to have saved a US warship off Yemen recently when it came under attack, Mr Pyne said.
“We’re getting a lot of interest from countries which want it. Australian systems are proving to be effective and the best in the world.”
Brendan Nicholson is defence editor of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Strategist website.