The Navy reaffirms that 60% of the submarine project will be diverted to Australia

Report from a French company

Entertainment on what an Australian submarine attack class would look like. Photo: Navy Team

French semi-public shipyard Navy Team Recognizes its commitment to the local industry in the submarine project Attack. The company explained in a press release, “It has a commitment of at least 60% cost [de este programa] In local agreements to increase employment and employment in Australia ”. The note comes a few months after it was announced that it was considering canceling the order due to its enormous cost.

The company’s text points out: “Hundreds of Australian jobs will be created in the national supply chain built in support of building the class’s 12 new submarines. Attack”. This ensures that “at least 60% of the contract value for these vessels” will be spent in Australia.

In addition, the CEO of the French team, Pierre Eric Bommalet, After meeting with various Australian officials this Tuesday, said, “They are very impressed with the current capacity in the Australian manufacturing sector and their enthusiasm for the project. Attack”.

These reports contradict cross-accusations between the Navy and Australian authorities, not about the local department’s ability to develop part of the submarine project that took place a year ago. In this context, it was announced that the country would take 60% of the value of the project, through various sub-contract agreements.

In this way, the Naval Group is committed to delivering the bulk of the project to the client industry, two weeks before the General Director of the local subsidiary of the French company, John DavisHe said he did not see the ability to take half of the project contracts. The Australian Defense Minister responded to those words, Linda Reynolds, Warns the French company that “it will be responsible for the obligations it has signed”. He added that Davis’ comments did not “reflect strong cooperation with the Navy team on this project.” In an effort to appease the spirits, the Australian and French Ministries of Defense later released a joint statement reaffirming the formal agreement to build submarines signed in early 2019. The rate of work to be considered by the local industry at that time had not yet been established. Australian Minister of Defense Industry, Melissa Price, Revealed in a parliamentary response in 2016, that the percentage of the National Sector’s involvement in these ships should be built in the country, which will be determined “once the submarine design is complete”.

“Cost Explosions and Missed Timelines”

At the start of this 2021, in the words of the country’s prime minister, tensions returned to the plan “as costs exploded and deadlines were missed”. Scott Morrison, Collected by local media Australian Financial Review. At the time Yes The cost of the project is estimated at over A $ 90,000 million (approximately ,000 58,000 million at current exchange rates). The cost of the 12 submarines was initially estimated at $ 50 billion ($ 32 billion).

The Navy team was selected in 2016 as the best choice to equip Australia with its future submarines from this project. SEA 1000. Offer from the French company DCNS (The current naval fleet was known at the time) thus imposing itself on its Japanese rivals (Kawasaki Heavy Industries Y Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) And Germans (Tyson Group Marine Settings –TKMS). Spanish Navandiya And switch Chop They also had options Within a few months of Australia announcing that the nominee was a French candidate.

These twelve ships of the class Attack (Regular version of French nuclear ships Barracuda) To replace the class’s existing submarines Collins Serves Australia, which is expected to retire in the middle of the next decade.

According to the official schedule, the first submarine of the place, The HMAS attack, Which will be offered in the early 2030s. An official audit in early 2020 revealed that the project A year before the contract was formalized, it had already accumulated a “nine-month delay in the design phase.”

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