Australian Strategic Policy Institute criticises the two-decade time frame to build the Hunter Class frigates

A leading Defence think tank has challenged the two-decade time frame for our Future Frigates – arguing if we’re spending more, we should do it to speed up construction, not slow it down to save future jobs.

A leading Defence think tank has slammed Australia’s $45bn plan to build Future Frigates in Adelaide over two decades while the risk of conflict in the Indo-Pacific is rising.

• SA eyes more defence contracts from $270 billion military budget

A defence think-tank has called for Australia’s $45 billion plan to build nine Future Frigates in Adelaide to be fast-tracked.

An Australian Strategic Policy Institute Cost of Defence report released today criticises the current two-decade time frame to build the Hunter Class frigates in SA given Defence has warned the risks of conflict in the Indo-Pacific are mounting.

It says the Federal Government’s plan for continuous shipbuilding, which spreads the work out to prevent a “Valley of Death” for shipyard jobs, means the country is “deliberately paying more to get capability later”.

The cost of the nine Hunter Class frigates has already blown out from $30bn in 2016 to $45.6bn because of the continuous shipbuilding plan, the report says. “Surely now’s the time to be spending to accelerate delivery … not slow it down,” ASPI analyst Dr Marcus Hellyer writes.

“If we’re willing to pay a premium to build here, let’s pay it to get more capability sooner, not later.

“Why are we prioritising jobs for future generations of shipbuilders over capability for current servicemen and women who may be called upon in the near future to use it?”

Dr Hellyer writes that Defence’s current plan “doesn’t deliver a single new combat vessel” before 2030, while at the same the risks of conflict in the Indo-Pacific are rising.

He notes the $270bn 2020 Defence strategy Scott Morrison released last month explicitly states that Australia can no longer rely on 10 years’ warning for a likely conflict.

Dr Hellyer said the Defence Department justified the costs by arguing continuous shipbuilding created “multigenerational” job opportunities and a national naval shipbuilding industry and supply chains.

ASPI’s report also says Australian companies need to be manufacturing $10bn worth of defence projects each year within a decade to reduce the military’s supply chain risks, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

That’s almost four times the $2.6bn of defence work Australian businesses currently do a year, presenting opportunities for local businesses to grow dramatically. It means the Federal Government must significantly ramp up its investment to develop local companies, ASPI says.