The Australian government signed a $2.2 billion four-year contract with national submarine builder ASC last week to keep Canberra’s existing Collins-class submarines in service through the 2030s.
When making the announcement on Saturday, Australia’s minister of defense industry Pat Conroy said in a news release that the sustainment contract would allow Canberra to “maintain our sovereign capability.” He added that the agreement demonstrates the government’s commitment to invest up to A$5 billion to ensure the submarine fleet can “continue to provide a potent strike and deterrence capability.”
The signing comes in the wake of news in late May that three of the boats are suffering serious corrosion problems and will be out of service for at least a year, ASC officials confirmed to Australian and other news agencies. One was already in a shipyard for scheduled maintenance.
News reports noted this is the first time half of Australian’s submarine fleet has been out of service.
The submarines’ service life extension provides Australia with a bridge until it receives three to five nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines from the United Sates and later builds its own nuclear-powered boats.
Conroy, when announcing the contract, said Australia has decided not to go ahead with putting Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Collins-class boats. The missile addition “does not represent value for money,” the release said. The decision was made in consultation with the United States.
The Virginia-class submarines that Canberra will buy are slated to be outfitted with Tomahawks. The Royal Australian Navy will proceed with buying the missiles for its Hunter-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers.
Conroy added that Canberra will not install an optronics, or high-resolution electronic imaging, upgrade for the Collins-class boats and the future nuclear-powered subs.
“These decisions will reduce risk for the Collins-class program and will help maximize availability as we transition” to the nuclear-powered subs, said Conroy.
Work on the extension program is expected to begin in 2026 in Osborne, South Australia and Henderson, Western Australia.
Since 1996, the Australian Navy has operated six diesel-electric Collins-class submarines based at Fleet Base West in Western Australia.
Vice Adm. Jonathan Mead, speaking at last week’s Indian Ocean Defense and Security conference, said: “We have a long road ahead; we do need strategic patience.”
Australian news agencies reported that Mead, the head of Australia’s submarine force, said the process “is not quick, nor is it cheap.”
Breaking Defense, covering the Perth conference, reported that Australia now has only one dry dock, built during World War II in Sydney, and needs another on the continent’s west coast to service nuclear-powered submarines.
“The important point to make is this. Western Australia must have the ability to maintain and sustain all the major platforms that we operate. That is a clear proposition coming out of the Defense Strategic Review. In order to achieve that, a dry dock is going to be essential,” said Defense Minister Richard Marles, according to Breaking Defense.
Marles did not give a date when the western dry dock would be ready.
Australia is also sending shipyard workers to the United States and the United Kingdom to train them in the skills to maintain and build the nuclear submarines. It has also sent submarine officers to the U.S. Navy for training on nuclear systems and operations. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy announced that the RAN’s first group of enlisted sailors finished Basic Enlisted Submarine School in Groton, Conn.
The United States is struggling with the AUKUS timetable and the schedule to build the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, the Pentagon’s top acquisition priority.
As the Congressional Research Service reported this month, while Congress has provided the money to buy two Virginia-class boats per year, the industrial base “since 2022 has been limited by shipyard and supplier firm workforce and supply chain challenges to about 1.2 to 1.4 boats per year, resulting in a growing backlog of boats procured but not yet built.”
To meet AUKUS goals, the industrial base needs to build two attack boats per year until 2028 and then 2.33 per year after to “replace three to five Virginia-class boats that are to be sold to Australia,” according to the CRS report.
The United Kingdom’s submarine operations and building programs are facing their own set of challenges that may require London to shift priorities for AUKUS.
“The Royal Navy’s force of four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and six SSNs has fallen below critical mass,” reported the Lowy Institute, an Australian defense think tank.
“This force could normally be expected to deploy one SSBN and one to two SSNs. But times have not been good for the Royal Navy; one of the SSBNs has spent 7 years in dock refuelling the reactor to rectify a defect. The remaining three have been hard pressed to maintain continuous deterrent patrols.”
Despite the stumbles and delays, Mead told conference attendees that “the progress made already and the commitment of all involved demonstrate that we as a nation have what it takes to deliver on this ambitious program.” British First Sea Lord Ben Key said he was comfortable with the level of funding for the program. “A lot of work was going on” to keep AUKUS moving despite the present challenges and extended timetable.
Before the Perth conference opened, Adm. Lisa Franchetti said: “AUKUS is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring together the exceptional capabilities of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. We will continue to build on our relationship, strengths, and interoperability, while at the same time uplifting the industrial bases of our three countries.”
