Patrol boat refit urged to fill subs gap

Australia’s current navy shipbuilding program is way off target, according to defence expert Marcus Hellyer.

HMAS Gladstone is a Fremantle-class patrol boat.

Navy planners may be forced to fit new patrol boats built to catch illegal fishers and boatpeople with high-end anti-ship missiles and sophisticated sonar buoys, to bridge a ­looming capability gap caused by a delay in ­acquiring new ­submarines.

Australian Strategic Policy ­Institute senior analyst Marcus Hellyer said delays in Australia’s new submarine program might force Defence planners to look for quick workarounds to give the Australian Defence Force the capability to meet the threat posed by the gathering number of foreign submarines operating in the region.

Mr Hellyer said one such workaround would be to retrofit the navy’s new Arafura-class ­patrol boats with long-range strike weapons, such as surface-to-surface missiles.

“Many other countries use that kind of ship as a warship,’’ he said. “The original design had anti-ship missiles on them. We took them off. That’s a quick enhance­ment we could make to get a maritime strike capability.’’

Australia has partnered with French shipbuilding firm Naval Group to build 12 new Attack-class submarines to replace the six Collins-class submarines currentl­y in operation.

However, the program to build the boats has been dogged by delays­ and contract disputes between Defence and Naval Group.

The first of the new subs isn’t due to take to the water until 2034, by which time Defence estim­ates that more than half of the world’s submarines will be operatin­g in the Asia-Pacific.

A program to build nine new frigates will not produce a boat until about 2030, leading some analysts to conclude Australia could face a capability gap at a time when strategic competition in the region is at its height.

The first of the new Arafura-class boats is due to be delivered next year, with one to follow every nine months after that.

Mr Hellyer said given the vast size of the boat, its range, the weapons it could carry and the sophistication of its combat system­, it was “overkill” to use the fleet solely for coastal surveillance.

He said even it the frigates and the subs were delivered on schedule, it made sense to upgrade the offshore patrol vessels.

“We can see Trump’s wavering commitment to allies,” Mr Hellyer said. “We can see China’s greater assertiveness.

“Our plan is — complacent is probably a little harsh — but we’re spending more than $90bn in a shipbuilding program and we’re not getting new capability in maritime warfare for a decade.”