Australian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Status
Not open for further replies.

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Japan Outlines Bid for Australia’s SEA1000 Future Submarine Program
By:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

October 8, 2015 11:52 AM
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Undated photo of Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force submarine Soryu (SS-501)

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Japan’s submarine bid team has outlined the details of its proposal for Australia’s SEA1000 Future Submarine program to replace the Royal Australian Navy’s existing Collins-class boats.

Speaking at the Pacific 2015 International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, Australia, officials from the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation consortium and the Japanese Ministry of Defense have confirmed that if Japan is selected to construct SEA1000, the submarines will be built in Australia with Japanese technology transfer.

Masaki Ishikawa, from Japan’s Ministry of Defense, said that the Japanese consortium is “very confident that we can build boats from Day One in Australia.” In such a scenario, the Japanese are proposing that a training center will be set up in Adelaide (in the state of South Australia) to train 300 engineers involved in the program.

In addition, a full-scale mock-up initially will be built by government-owned Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) in Adelaide to train the Australian submarine workforce. The training is expected to take place over three years, part of which will occur in Kobe, Japan.

However, the Japanese have also suggested that they prefer the hybrid option of initially building some of the Australian submarines in Japan and the rest in Australia, and expect that this will result in Australia taking delivery of the first submarine faster, avoiding the need for building a mock-up for training—saving money in the long term.

The design being offered by the Japanese is a modified Soryu-class diesel-electric submarine, and will run on lithium-ion batteries as opposed to air independent propulsion (AIP). However, AIP could be offered if Australia has such a requirement.

The modified Soryus for Australia will also incorporate a new, Australian-developed hydrodynamic design, while the preferred combat system and a new heavyweight torpedo—which will be the submarine’s primary armament—are being jointly developed by Australia and the United States.

Turning to ASC, the Japanese spoke highly of the Australian shipyard, saying that they thought the Australians had a very good shipyard, but nevertheless adding that ASC will upgrade, given that it will be building the largest conventional submarine in the world.

The controversial SEA1000 program has previously been dogged by government instability in Canberra, vaguely defined requirements and the changing security landscape facing Australia over the past few years.

In a 2009 Defense White Paper, under the government of then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it was announced that 12 new submarines would be built in Australia by ASC to replace the Collins-class boats, which were due to leave RAN service beginning in 2025.

Despite this, little further work had been done by 2013, when a new government, led by Tony Abbott, came to power. It was no secret that the Abbott government did not hold ASC in high regard after its well-publicized troubles with the Collins program, with then-Defense Minister David Johnston famously declaring in Parliament that he “wouldn’t trust ASC to build a canoe.”

Abbott was known to favor the modified Soryu design to meet Australia’s unique requirements and was rumored to be prepared to have the submarines built entirely in Japan without going through a competitive tender process.

Political pressure soon forced the government to reverse course, instead announcing in February of this year that a “competitive evaluation process” will take place between France’s DCNS, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Maritime Systems and the Japanese consortium. The three bidders are currently in the process of finalizing their bids, which are due for submission by 30 November.

Australia has a set of very unique requirements for its submarines—expected to operate in a wide range of environments ranging from the cold Southern Ocean to the tropical Coral, Arafura and Timor Seas. They also need to transit long distances from their base in Australia’s far southwest to their designated patrol areas, which could be as far as the South China Sea and the Northern Pacific.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Battle Stations, rig for silent running, Mr. TerraN, give me a range and bearing to that heavy sonar target, Mr. Jura prepares tubes three and four, Mr Brumby bring her up to 0200 ft, increase speed to 18 knots, bring her around to 085 degrees and give me a firing solution on stern tubes 1 and 3 to that target with the high speed screws. All ahead at 18 knots prepare for evasion and decent to 0900 ft, on my Mark, Mr Brumby!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Stern tubes... What is this world war 1? I think stern torpedo tubes went out with deck guns.
Stern tubes... What is this world war 1? I think stern torpedo tubes went out with deck guns.

You're just mad because I put Mister Jura on the Weapons, Fine!, trade places with Terran Mr. Jura! Mr. Jura range please?? Terran, open outer doors and flood tubes three and four, and get those fish spooled up NOW!
 
Stern tubes... What is this world war 1? ...

hey bro, check this:
... all submerged; in a fancy arrangement:
  • one starboard, middle area, launching at 63 degrees with respect to the bow
  • one port side, middle area, launching at 63 degrees with respect to the bow
  • one aft!
  • and one bow, visible in my picture
    1vCai.jpg
definitely not
Australian Military News
just could resist LOL
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
14 MH-60R delivered on 24 used by 725 Sqn OCU and later by 816th, combat unit, replace 16 S-70B used by this Sqn.
View attachment 19632
View attachment 19633

Royal Australian Navy Bullish on New MH-60R Helos
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has hailed the integration of the Lockheed-Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk into the service’s Fleet Air Arm as the multirole naval helicopter achieves initial operating capability there.
Giving an program update at the inaugural Navy Aviation Symposium in Sydney, Australia, Commodore Vincenzo Di Petro, Commander of the Fleet Air Arm called the program to introduce the MH-60Rs—known as Romeos in RAN service—“amazingly successful” and pointed to the dedicated in-country training and operational support capacity as a “cataclysmic change for the better.”
Acquired as a project of urgency under the $2.34 billion Air 9000 Phase 8 program for a naval helicopter capable of performing the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) roles, Australia ordered 24 MH-60Rs in 2011 with deliveries starting in 2014.
The Romeos will replace the RAN’s S-70B-2 Seahawk in the ASW and the ambitious, but ultimately abandoned program to introduce the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite in the ASuW role.
Di Petro confirmed that 14 of the 24 Romeos ordered have been delivered to date, with 13 in-country and one aircraft remaining at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., as a trials aircraft for a number of Australian-specific modifications. The last Australian aircraft is already in production, with Lockheed-Martin confirming that it will be delivered in mid-2016.
The RAN has stood up 725 Squadron at Nowra, New South Wales, as the dedicated training squadron for the Romeos. As the RAN gradually draws down its fleet of 16 S-70B-2 Seahawks serving with 816 Squadron leading up to the type’s planned withdrawal in 2018, the squadron will at the same time equip itself with the Romeo and take over operational responsibilities with the type.
The RAN has built a modern purpose-built simulator and maintenance facility in Nowra that is now operational, which was described by Commodore Colin Lawrence, director general of Navy Aviation Systems in the RAN as “phenomenal.” The full MH-60R Seahawk Romeo training system includes two full-motion flight simulators and a wide range of sophisticated maintenance trainers, and will give the RAN the capability to train most of the required maintenance competencies on the aircraft onsite.
Lawrence also touched on the yearlong deployment of an initial cadre of 112 Australian personnel to NAS Jacksonville prior to the initial delivery of the Australian aircraft. According to Lawrence, the experience was a success, with the Australians being able to “fast-track a lot of our learning on this aircraft by operating right next to the U.S Navy squadrons, and somewhat being held to account to operating at the pace they operate at.”
725 Squadron attained initial operating capability (IOC) with the Romeo in September. This follows a successful four-month deployment on board the ANZAC-class frigate HMAS Perth to Southeast Asian waters, which saw the embarked MH-60R available every day of the deployment. A second frigate, the HMAS Warramunga will undertake a deployment in 2016 with a MH-60R on board.
In Australian service, the MH-60R’s primary armament in the ASW role will be the Raytheon Mk.54 Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo. For ASuW operations the RAN has cleared the type to operate the Lockheed-Martin AGM-114N Hellfire air-to-ground missile, with the first live firing in Australia scheduled to take place sometime in early 2016.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top