Collins-class submarine refit in doubt as Swedish designer SAAB is shunned

The navy’s plan to extend the life of its Collins-class submarines for a decade is in trouble, with the shipbuilder refusing to engage seriously with the Swedish designer.

The HMAS Rankin, a Collins-class submarine.

The navy’s plan to extend the life of its Collins-class submarines for another decade is in trouble, with the country’s naval shipbuilder, ASC, refusing to engage seriously with the submarine’s Swedish designer to help overhaul the ageing boats.

With planning under way for the $6bn life of type extension (LOTE) for the six Collins submarines, the navy and ASC have shunned the boat’s designer, SAAB, giving the company only a minor role so far in the program.

Defence insiders say only SAAB, as the original designer of the Collins-class fleet, has the expertise to guide ASC through what will be the most complex submarine refit undertaken in Australia to try to extend the life of the fleet by a decade.

If the LOTE program cannot be completed on time, it will greatly increase the danger of a capability gap in Australia between the retirement of the Collins boats and the arrival of the first nuclear-powered submarine.

SAAB has been unable to persuade ASC to conclude a proposed “teaming agreement” to join ­forces to carry out the LOTE. The only involvement for SAAB so far on the LOTE is a minor contract that allows for just seven SAAB employees to be embedded with the company in a project that will involve hundreds of engineers over a decade.

“The bottom line is that the ability to keep the Collins-class boats in the water for another decade will be gravely undermined unless Defence agrees to bring in the expertise of the actual designer of the submarines,” one insider said.

Defence has had a rocky relationship with SAAB ever since the troubled start to the Collins submarines in the 1990s, where teething problems saw the new boats labelled by the media as “dud subs”.

The navy’s relationship with the designer, SAAB Kockums, worsened after the company was briefly acquired by German shipbuilder HDW, including litigation disputes over intellectual property rights.

The lingering resentments saw Defence surprise many by excluding Sweden from the competitive tender in 2016 between France, Japan and Germany to provide the future submarine.

However, the planned acquisition of nuclear submarines and the long timeline involved has made it essential the life of the ­Collins fleet be extended under the LOTE program.

SAAB has already completed midlife upgrades of two Gotland-class submarines for Sweden’s navy, giving the company recent experience on major submarine upgrades in contrast to the ASC, which has never attempted an ­upgrade.

The LOTE program will take two years for each submarine progressively and will overhaul and upgrade the submarine’s propulsion and power distribution systems, diesel motors and gen­erators as well as an optronics upgrade.

Work is due to begin on the first boat, HMAS Farncomb, in 2026, with the upgrade of the last boat being completed in 2038.

The fleet will retire one boat every two years from 2038.

ASC concedes that only a small number of SAAB employees is currently involved in the LOTE design team but says more SAAB experts will be used in the future as the program matures.

“ASC is engaged with SAAB Kockums as a capability partner for design activities for LOTE,” an ASC spokesperson said.

“This has resulted in a small number of SAAB Kockums staff being temporarily located within the ASC design team. Further SAAB employees are expected to be integrated into the program in the future.”

ASC said it was currently designing the systems that would be used in the LOTE and had already entered into design contracts with key suppliers for main motor, diesel generators and power conversion equipment.

Defence Minister Richard Marles is expected to support the previous government’s plan to put all six Collins submarines through the LOTE program.

He is likely to force ASC to rely more heavily on SAAB’s expertise if the shipbuilder continues to keep the Swedish company at a distance.

Yet even if the LOTE program is successful, there is likely to be a capability gap between the retirement of the Collins fleet and the arrival of the first nuclear boat in around 2040.

Mr Males is considering whether a new interim conventional submarine is required to bridge this expected gap in capability at a time when China is ­readily expanding its own submarine capability.