Royal Australian Navy (RAN): News

Australia signs US$35 billion submarine deal with France as countries vie for influence in the Pacific

• Under the Strategic Partnership Agreement, 12 conventionally powered submarines derived from the Naval Group Barracuda nuclear design will be constructed in a new shipyard in South Australia

• This is Australia’s largest ever defence procurement project and also the largest ever foreign sales deal by French shipbuilder Naval Group

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/2185698/australia-signs-us35-billion-submarine-deal-france-latest-bid?fbclid=IwAR1NJSSfnyfrfpUtMQj0Fq__SMELcak1x6yn1uipHULO_5gVTJbGZoHRKmA

Jive Turkey did a deep dive on the epic disaster that the sub deal has turned into.

ABC Australia. They know a lot about american and british subs.

Australian lead patrol ship Arafura launched




Recall that in November 2017, the German shipbuilding company Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG (now the Lürssen Group) was selected as the winner of the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) program for the construction of 12 patrol ships for the Australian Navy for a total value of A $ 4 billion, having received the corresponding contract. The Lürssen project chosen by Australia under the OPV program is a modified version of the PV 80 project, according to which Lürssen previously built four 80-meter, 1,625-ton Darussalam -class patrol ships for the Brunei Navy (commissioned in 2011-2014).

The general contractor for the design and construction of patrol ships for the Australian Navy is Lürssen Australia's Lürssen Group, which contracts Osborne Naval Shipyard in Osborne (where the first two ships are to be built) and Civmec's Henderson Maritime Precinct in Henderson, Western Australia. (the other 10 ships). The construction of the first two patrol ships in Osborne is prompted by the desire to load this main Australian shipbuilding complex before the deployment of a program there to build promising Hunter -class frigates (British Type 26) for the Australian Navy .

Construction of the lead patrol ship OPV 203 ArafuraThe Osborne Naval Shipyard was launched in Osborne on November 15, 2018, and the official bookmark was made on May 10, 2019. The Arafura has now been launched in a high degree of readiness, and the ship is scheduled for delivery in 2022.

The second patrol ship, OPV 204 Eyre, was laid down at Osborne on April 9, 2020, with a deadline set for March 2023.

On September 11, 2020, the first of the ten planned patrol ships, OPV 205 Pilbara, was laid down in Henderson . To date, work has begun on the construction of the next three units - OPV 206 Gippsland, OPV 207 Illawarra, OPV 208 Carpentaria.

Ships of the Arafura classhave a standard displacement of 1640 tons, maximum length 80 m, width 13 m, draft 4 m. The power plant includes two MTU 16V diesel engines with a capacity of 5950 hp. Full speed 22 knots, cruising range 4000 miles, autonomy 21 days. The crew of 40 people with the possibility of accommodating another 20. The ship's armament is to be made up of the Israeli Rafael Typhoon remote-controlled artillery mount with a 25-mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon and two 12.7-mm machine guns. The ship is equipped with a helipad for a manned or unmanned helicopter, as well as one 10-meter and two 8.5-meter motor boats.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4450330.html

Australia buys NSM anti-ship missiles

On April 5, 2022, the Australian Government announced an accelerated acquisition of NSM Block 1A anti-ship missiles to replace U.S. Harpoon anti-ship missiles on eight ANZAC -class frigates and three new Australian Navy Hobart -class destroyers . The delivery of NSM missiles has been scheduled since 2024.

The contract now signed is the first stage in the acquisition of NSM anti-ship missiles for the Australian Navy, the details of the contract were not disclosed.

The NSM missile has been in service with the Norwegian Navy since 2012. Australia becomes the sixth known foreign customer for the NSM after the US, Germany, Poland, Romania and Malaysia, in addition, NSM was tentatively selected as a promising anti-ship missile also by the fleets of Canada and Indonesia.

Earlier this year, it was also reported that Kongsberg and the Australian branch of the Thales group (Thales Australia) are jointly developing the StrikeMaster coastal mobile missile system with the Kongsberg NSM Block 1A twin-shot anti-ship missile launcher, made on the chassis of the famous Australian Bushmaster PMV (4x4) armored vehicle. The command post of the complex should be similar to that for the Australian version of the NASAMS air defense system. The StrikeMaster complex is being developed to offer the Australian Army's Land 4100 Phase 2 program and for export.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4553725.html

Hole wrote:
ABC Australia. They know a lot about american and british subs.

The VLS doors for the SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles are the clue...

Two Thirds of Australia’s AUKUS Nuclear Attack Submarines Will Be Second Hand From America
Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff
June-9th-2023

Following confirmation that the Australian Defence Ministry would invest in acquiring nuclear powered attack submarines with support from the United States and Britain as part of the AUKUS strategic partnership in September 2021, it has been revealed that the Royal Australian Navy will receive three Virginia Class attacks submarines from the United States. Of these two will be provided second hand from the U.S. Navy. Head of Australia’s Nuclear Powered Submarine Task Force Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead informed the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Legislation Committee panel regarding these plans: “Two Virginias would be transferred to us [Australian Navy] and then we buy one off the production line… The exact allocations of submarines that would be transferred to Australia is still to be determined by Australia and the U.S. But we are looking at those submarines having over 20 years of service life.” A third Virginia Class ship will be “bought off the production line.” American shipyards are reportedly set to build 66 Virginia Class submarines, although since construction began in 2000 only 22 of the ships have been completed with six more currently under being built. This has raised questions regarding how selling on two of its older Virginia Class ships will affect the combat potential of the U.S. Navy itself until these can be replaced. The ship class began development in the late Cold War years to bridge performance gaps with new generations of Soviet submarines.



Provision of nuclear powered attack submarines to Australia, which has also considered acquiring American B-21 Raider strategic bombers, has been widely seen as a measure to strengthen the country’s ability to contribute to Western Bloc efforts to militarily contain China and North Korea. The ships will have significantly greater endurances than diesel electric ships such as the indigenous Australia Collins Class, allowing them to operate for considerably longer periods at a time in the South China Sea or in Northeast Asia. They will by some estimates allow the Royal Australian Navy to maintain deployments in Southeast Asia for 77 days at a time compared to just 11 days for diesel electric submarines. The partnership has raised widespread concerns in Beijing and Pyongyang as well as across much of Southeast Asia, with speculation widespread that Australia could eventually enter into a nuclear sharing agreement to provide the submarines with an offensive nuclear strike capability. Submarines are seen as a valuable asymmetric asset to tackle larger more sophisticated surface navies, and are thus considered an optimal asset for Australia and the United States which are both at serious risk of being tremendously outgunned in a potential conflict in East Asia.

https://news.usni.org/2024/02/05/australian-sailors-to-embed-on-u-s-navy-submarine-tender-in-guam

Amusing that in the space of one page this French contract for subs for Australia for 35 billion has been cancelled because it is too expensive and is being replaced with a contract with the US and UK for nuclear powered subs costing more than 300 billion...

They really know how to save money...



The huge advantage of comedy is that they can get away with confronting the liars and cheats and thieves... and if anyone tries to cancel them it is because they have no sense of humour... and they are happy to waste almost half a trillion dollars, but they don't want to look bad.

..this French contract for subs for Australia for 35 billion has been cancelled because it is too expensive..

no, it wasn't the stated reason. SSNs r better suited for the role Australia will play in containing China. Btw, I never heard that the RAN will not be operating SSKs alongside them as well; Germany, Japan or Korea may sell some to Australia, if need be.

Tsavo Lion wrote:no, it wasn't the stated reason. SSNs r better suited for the role Australia will play in containing China. Btw, I never heard that the RAN will not be operating SSKs alongside them as well; Germany, Japan or Korea may sell some to Australia, if need be.

So Australia will basically be operating the US's Navy for them. The most expensive deterrent with nuclear propulsion to boot. Must be nice to be so rich from sales of raw materials to China.