Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
I recall Gary discussing years ago, well before any of this, that the RAN was pushing very hard for a 10000t frigate, with a core AEGIS CMS and CAE radars. Apparently it was nixed by Secdef Richardson who wanted something much smaller and off the shelf. He was also one of the brain's trust behind the Japanese Soryu mots idea.
There was discussion in the public space about large Frigates with 96 VLS and Secdef Richardson saying, no chance.
 

Brissy1982

Active Member
As @spoz has pointed out, Australian naval procurement estimates include estimated whole of life costs including personnel costs. Whole of life costs can absolutely dwarf the cost of building the ship itself over a 20-30 year timescale, so trying to compare Australian naval procurement estimates to those of other countries that don't include whole of life costs is like comparing apples and oranges.

I recall that not long after I joined the RAN, I became aware of some unclassified information about the cost of operating the Perth-class DDGs -the three ships each cost over $100,000 per day (in 1997 dollars) in sustainment and crew costs (salary, allowances and superannuation) just to keep them in commission - a total of ~$110,000,000 per year is a lot of money just to keep three ships tied up alongside. That figure would obviously have been considerably higher when the ships were spending time at sea due to the additional cost of fuel, ammunition for training and exercises, rations for 310 crew members at 3-4 meals per person per day, etc.

I can also recall seeing a news article a while back that gave examples of the cost of operating the FFGs and Anzac-class frigates. From memory, despite the fact that both classes had much smaller crews than the Perth-class DDGs, their ordinary sustainment and operating costs were well north of $200,000 per ship per day, which shows the effect that inflation has over time. I'll see if I can find the article and post a link to it.
 

Bob53

Well-Known Member
As @spoz has pointed out, Australian naval procurement estimates include estimated whole of life costs including personnel costs. Whole of life costs can absolutely dwarf the cost of building the ship itself over a 20-30 year timescale, so trying to compare Australian naval procurement estimates to those of other countries that don't include whole of life costs is like comparing apples and oranges.

I recall that not long after I joined the RAN, I became aware of some unclassified information about the cost of operating the Perth-class DDGs -the three ships each cost over $100,000 per day (in 1997 dollars) in sustainment and crew costs (salary, allowances and superannuation) just to keep them in commission - a total of ~$110,000,000 per year is a lot of money just to keep three ships tied up alongside. That figure would obviously have been considerably higher when the ships were spending time at sea due to the additional cost of fuel, ammunition for training and exercises, rations for 310 crew members at 3-4 meals per person per day, etc.

I can also recall seeing a news article a while back that gave examples of the cost of operating the FFGs and Anzac-class frigates. From memory, despite the fact that both classes had much smaller crews than the Perth-class DDGs, their ordinary sustainment and operating costs were well north of $200,000 per ship per day, which shows the effect that inflation has over time. I'll see if I can find the article and post a link to it.
Yes. Hence why I quoted….. $90 billion Australian to build 12 subs ($7.5 billion each) and $145 billion to maintain them
 

Brissy1982

Active Member
Yes. Hence why I quoted….. $90 billion Australian to build 12 subs ($7.5 billion each) and $145 billion to maintain them
Understood @Bob53. I agree that Australia does pay more to build ships and submarines here in Australia, and to customise designs to include Australian systems. My point was that the figures that get quoted when other countries are acquiring ships and submarines often do not include figures for customisation which as others have pointed out can add significantly to the cost of acquiring the platform, so the differences in acquisition cost between Australian and overseas ships and submarines may not actually be as extreme as might initially appear.
 

Brissy1982

Active Member
As @spoz has pointed out, Australian naval procurement estimates include estimated whole of life costs including personnel costs. Whole of life costs can absolutely dwarf the cost of building the ship itself over a 20-30 year timescale, so trying to compare Australian naval procurement estimates to those of other countries that don't include whole of life costs is like comparing apples and oranges.

I recall that not long after I joined the RAN, I became aware of some unclassified information about the cost of operating the Perth-class DDGs -the three ships each cost over $100,000 per day (in 1997 dollars) in sustainment and crew costs (salary, allowances and superannuation) just to keep them in commission - a total of ~$110,000,000 per year is a lot of money just to keep three ships tied up alongside. That figure would obviously have been considerably higher when the ships were spending time at sea due to the additional cost of fuel, ammunition for training and exercises, rations for 310 crew members at 3-4 meals per person per day, etc.

I can also recall seeing a news article a while back that gave examples of the cost of operating the FFGs and Anzac-class frigates. From memory, despite the fact that both classes had much smaller crews than the Perth-class DDGs, their ordinary sustainment and operating costs were well north of $200,000 per ship per day, which shows the effect that inflation has over time. I'll see if I can find the article and post a link to it.
Further to my earlier post, here is a link to the article I mentioned about the cost of operating the FFGs and Anzac-class frigates - it's from 2012 so 12 years ago now, but it gives an idea of how much it costs to operate ships, and no doubt the figures would be substantially higher today:

 

Volkodav

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Understood @Bob53. I agree that Australia does pay more to build ships and submarines here in Australia, and to customise designs to include Australian systems. My point was that the figures that get quoted when other countries are acquiring ships and submarines often do not include figures for customisation which as others have pointed out can add significantly to the cost of acquiring the platform, so the differences in acquisition cost between Australian and overseas ships and submarines may not actually be as extreme as might initially appear.
Many of the customisations are quite literally design changes that are required to permit the capability to function at all.

Others relate to the ability to maintain and sustain the capability.

Some relate to durability in our climate and operational areas.

Then there's the operational side, minimum changes required just so the capability can be safely operated as part of the ADF.

If we bought a capability off the shelf, it still needs to be, to an extent, stripped and refitted to be useful.

Think of it like a police car or ambulance, maybe a tradies van or ute. They are very very different to an outwardly identical vehicle on the showroom floor.

None of these relate to providing the actual operational effects required. That is we are not the US, we are not NATO, for the most part, if the ADF does not possess a capability, then it does not have access to that capability.
 
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StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Further to my earlier post, here is a link to the article I mentioned about the cost of operating the FFGs and Anzac-class frigates - it's from 2012 so 12 years ago now, but it gives an idea of how much it costs to operate ships, and no doubt the figures would be substantially higher today:
Which is also an argument why we need newer ships.

Old ships, like old planes, cost lots of money. At some point you are spending more money than it would cost to build a new ship.

Newer ships are not just capability improvements, but reliability improvements, more economical generally on things like fuel, and crew, and more suitable for modern crew needs and deployments. Refitting old ships often do not allow to get those economies. Old ships tend to wear out crews. Old ships also tend to have uncertain futures, so getting new young crews onto them is harder, because people see them as being short lived and also a pain to work on.

Australian costings tend to be very extensive, where other nations sail away costs tend to be very optimistic. Its not like Australia is unfamiliar with overseas builds. Look at the AOR or the Antarctic ship builds. They have their own problems.

The military also isn't quite the same as a business. Part of it, is that it can deliver what we need when we need it. So part of that is being able to make things here. If that costs more, its costs more. Of which anything that is around 30-40% more expensive, actually costs the same, because the benefit of the Australian economy as wages, suppliers business taxes, etc go back into the economy, which is taxed by the government. In really big countries like the US, it can be even higher, perhaps 60%.. So your money goes a lot further. Which is why often many countries subsidize their defence industry to get overseas work. As sometimes, a subsidy still becomes a net profit, and additional employment, and success is politically useful as well. As a side, by building here, you also set up a pipeline to maintain here, so your operational costs come down. Germany, Spain, France, UK do this. They all have unions and blue collar workers on excellent pay. It comes down to being able to effectively manage projects and having a steady stream of work. Not killing the industry after every project, and then moving it, then restarting it.

Purchase price of platforms are typically dwarfed by their operational costs. A billion dollar sub will probably have 5 billion in maintenance, two billion in crew costs, etc. Mooring facilities aren't free either, fuel, weapons, upgrades all cost big dollars over the life of the platform.

The military power is a function of the countries economy. The better the economy the better military you can afford, the more technologically advanced the economy, the more advanced your weapon systems. Typically paid for in taxes off the economy and those within it.
 

iambuzzard

Active Member
In essence new ships should be cheaper to run and easier to maintain, plus more attractive for recruitment.
Sadly for the Royal Navy this has not happened for the Type 45 and QE classes.
Hopefully our Hunters and the new Tier 2 frigates won't have this problem.
 

Armchair

Well-Known Member
On the US SSNs, there was an article on a recent issue of USNI Proceedings that gives some insight into their use in a Taiwan Strait conflict. The article is an essay written as a future history, presumably based on wargaming.
The article (issue actually) is an interesting read - based around a war in the Taiwan strait In 2026.
Of course they are written from a point of view that supports capabilities that the author wants more of (in this case attack submarines with torpedoes) but there were some takeaways for the RAN worth discussing.
The author thought Harpoons and Tomahawks were useless for USN SSNs in a major war (revealing their firing position to ASW assets) but that
PLAN subs would spread out across the Pacific in advance of a conflict and interdict shipping with AShM rather than with torpedoes.

Scenarios like that provide some context for the acquisition of 17 ASW/ undersea optimised platforms for RAN with moderate air defences (though all of those arrive much later than 2026, by which time the scenarios may be very different!).
 
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76mmGuns

Active Member
Given the unmanned ships don't exist yet, imho, I think the number of Tier 1/2 ships is going to change again. Circumstances change, budgets and governments change. If they stick to the now 6 hunter's, that's plenty of time for things to change. They might even double the building facilities and pump out 12 Hunter ASubW's and 9 Hunter AAW versions.

Be interesting if they do choose the Japanese more highly automated option.
 

SammyC

Well-Known Member
Australia to spend $5b on UK subs in AUKUS pact

folks

Another follow on article on the UK spend (Andrew Tillett), and it refers to RR trippling in size (seems a suprisingly large upgrade). Unfortunately its a paywall, however the other point to note is that it provides a bit more information on the industry investment, this time the Australian component. I have included an exerpt below.

As part of building up the workforce, more than 100 Australians employed by ASC will be dispatched to Pearl Harbour next year to learn how to maintain the US submarines.

While the government will transfer almost $9.5 billion to subsidise US and UK industries, it expects to spend $18 billion over the next decade in infrastructure upgrades in Adelaide and Perth. It also anticipates spending $30 billion to build up the Australian industrial between now and the mid-2050s.
Previously the Government had only announced $10B in infrastructure investments ($8B WA, $2B SA), so there is another $8B of stuff to be built that has not been publicised. That's a lot of money on top of the other investments in port, maintenance and construction facilities, so it will be interesting to see what this is earmarked for (I can't think of what other infrastructure would be needed, any thoughts?).

The additional $30B for industry over 25 years is a large sum of money by any measure. It shows some serious investment in local businesses and I look forward to seeing how this goes. From what I have read elsewhere, there is significant work going into Australin vendor qualifications for the US and UK submarine supply chains, with a number of businesses doing this now.

Overall, it would appear the Government is putting their money where their mouth is.

Lastly I think someone asked a while back what the plan was to train civilian people, and it would appear this will start next year with 100 ASC employees in Hawaii.
 
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iambuzzard

Active Member
Australia to spend $5b on UK subs in AUKUS pact

folks

Another follow on article on the UK spend (Andrew Tillett), and it refers to RR trippling in size (seems a suprisingly large upgrade). Unfortunately its a paywall, however the other point to note is that it provides a bit more information on the industry investment, this time the Australian component. I have included an exerpt below.



Previously the Government had only announced $10B in infrastructure investments ($8B WA, $2B SA), so there is another $8B of stuff to be built that has not been publicised. That's a lot of money on top of the other investments in port, maintenance and construction facilities, so it will be interesting to see what this is earmarked for (I can't think of what other infrastructure would be needed, any thoughts?).

The additional $30B for industry over 25 years is a large sum of money by any measure. It shows some serious investment in local businesses and I look forward to seeing how this goes. From what I have read elsewhere, there is significant work going into Australin vendor qualifications for the US and UK submarine supply chains, with a number of businesses doing this now.

Overall, it would appear the Government is putting their money where their mouth is.

Lastly I think someone asked a while back what the plan was to train civilian people, and it would appear this will start next year with 100 ASC employees in Hawaii.
It seems Richard Marles takes his portfolio seriously. I wonder if he's taking to Kim Beazley?
 
I remember thinking when Aukus and SSNs for Aus were announced that I wonder what had changed in the forecast that pushed SSN being a better option than the Attack Class planned and worth the high risk / high cost process that SSNs would require. Sure, I expect there are many reasons including political, but this passage from Marles about expecting snorting subs to be more detectable in the coming future as one of those reasons is very interesting.

Ref: Transcript from ABC News Breakfast

Bold emphasis & truncation my own:

BRENNAN: There's such a long lead in time for this equipment. Can you just outline why it is that nuclear-powered submarines are the option that Australia is pressing ahead with?

MARLES
: [...] every few days, they are required to come to the surface to turn on their diesel engines, engage in what's called snorting- to recharge the electric batteries. And whilst you can do that now in a way which is relatively undetected, all that we understand is that through the latter part of this decade and into the 2030s, that activity will become more detectable, which means that those submarines, being able to maintain their stealth will be, that will become much more difficult, which is why if we want to actually maintain the capability we've got today, we are going to need to do it with nuclear power in those submarines.
 

spoz

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
It seems Richard Marles takes his portfolio seriously. I wonder if he's taking to Kim Beazley?
God I hope not. For all his interest in Defence, and understanding of at least some of the issues, don’t forget he gave us DoA, the original Anzac concept, and killed the THSS. And even his recent USA time wouldn’t make him all that current. Hopefully Marles is listening to his professional advice, from those who have access to intelligence and other information not in the public arena, not that of amateurs who don’t

Submarines don’t surface to snort, though they do of course come shallow.
 
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hauritz

Well-Known Member
Clearly massive amounts of money are being invested into these new SSNs and it seems as though it is fast becoming a “too big to fail”program.

All countries involved have their own motivations and agendas. It will be difficult for any of the partner nations to slow down or cut back their contributions without huge ramifications to the program as a whole.

In a way Australia does have a plan B in that it will be acquiring its subs from both the UK and the US. Having two seperate sources for our submarines does reduce the risk. That Australia has left the option open for additional submarines to be acquired from the US is a pretty clear warning to the UK that they need to deliver on the AUKUS submarines.
 

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
Clearly massive amounts of money are being invested into these new SSNs and it seems as though it is fast becoming a “too big to fail”program.

All countries involved have their own motivations and agendas. It will be difficult for any of the partner nations to slow down or cut back their contributions without huge ramifications to the program as a whole.

In a way Australia does have a plan B in that it will be acquiring its subs from both the UK and the US. Having two seperate sources for our submarines does reduce the risk. That Australia has left the option open for additional submarines to be acquired from the US is a pretty clear warning to the UK that they need to deliver on the AUKUS submarines.
The big win for the UK out of AUKUS, is the Americans will be involved in the design work from day 1. Like Australia and Spain with Collins and S-80, the UK ran into issues with the Astutes and eventually turned to the US (General Dynamics Electric Boat) for help.
 

hauritz

Well-Known Member
The big win for the UK out of AUKUS, is the Americans will be involved in the design work from day 1. Like Australia and Spain with Collins and S-80, the UK ran into issues with the Astutes and eventually turned to the US (General Dynamics Electric Boat) for help.
Life would be simpler if they all just settled on a single design. You would think that a anglosized version of a US design would be simpler than starting with a clean sheet.
 

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
Submarine launched Hypersonic weapons - a perfect example of why it’s essential that the RANS’s future SSN’s are fitted with payload tubes with the capability to launch these.

https://warriormaven.com/sea/navy-starts-tests-of-submarine-fired-hypersonic-weapons-systems

My guess is that the AUKUS SSN’s will have 4 payload tubes.
The plan is to fit a VLS system to the SSN-AUKUS, certainly the precursor design, SSN(R) was getting them. I can see the AUKUS partners developing a common Hypersonic Missile to replace the Tomahawk, fired from a common VLS system.
Life would be simpler if they all just settled on a single design. You would think that a anglosized version of a US design would be simpler than starting with a clean sheet.
The British are way more advanced on their next gen SSN than the Americans are, the British need their design ready to follow the Dreadnought class into production in the late twenties, to maintain a continuous build capability. The US is not starting production of the SSN(X) until the early 40s. Can't see the Americans accepting a foreign design. The SSN-AUKUS is not really a clean sheet, it will share a lot in common with the Dreadnoughts, in many ways they will be Dreadnoughts without the Trident missile module, same sail, same reactor, many of the internal systems will be common.
 
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