There are lots of good options out there but to hark on with the main aim ...... if it cannot be built quickly it is not going to resolve the whole 'valley of death' issue. Forjacs will soon run out of work and BAE systems are already laying off people.
The evolved solution is very nice and I like a lot of the thinking ....... but:
1. it is a paper ship - with the F125 coming in at 5600 tonnes growth to 6200 tonnes is no small design feat; and
2. we are not tooled up for it.
Maybe down the track as a new 'batch' but if we are going to beat the valley of death what ever we choose will need to be a real design of known quantity....... and really soon!
As I said, nice ship and the distributed arrangement and electric drive is a very good feature for the limited view we have of the sales pitch.
PS - Have to correct myself .... the F125 is at the 7000 tonne mark, still not a completed design that we can throw into production, but more mature than the T26.
Agree.
Despite (what appears to be), the growing list of possible candidates for the Future Frigate, UK Type 26, FREMM, Meko 400 and of course an 'evolved' AWD hull, the shadow that is hanging over that choice is what is going to be the current Governments response to the 'Valley of Death' for naval shipbuilding in this country?
Of course the VoD could have been lessened (at the very least), if the previous Rudd/Gillard/Rudd Governments actually placed some orders for the RAN with Australian shipbuilders during their six years in Government, but they didn't, they could have order the 4th AWD (would have given the industry a couple of years of extra block work), but didn't, could have spent money during the GFC to expand Techport so there was the possibility the two AOR's could have been build here, but again they didn't! Anyway, got that off my chest!!
So what does the current Government do to both satisfy the needs of the RAN (which I think should always be the No 1 priority) and also satisfy the various shipbuilding companies and various State Governments too?? Can the Navy and Industry both be winners? Probably not!!
Obviously until the Government hands down the new DWP, the answers to the above won't be known, we won't know what the Government intends to do to reduce the effects of the VoD, the RAND report has given some hints as to what is possible, but of course the recommendations are not necessarily ones that the Government will follow, or be able to follow (depending on which competing priority it tries to address, the needs of the RAN or the needs of Industry).
The 'flavour of the month' last year (announced by the previous Def Min), was to investigate the possibility of an evolved AWD hull and bring block work on the Future Frigate forward to allow for some sort of 'continuity' for the yards currently building blocks for the AWD, is it still the flavour of the month? No doubt the DWP will tell us that.
Since then there appears to be another couple of options to keep industry going, the confirmation by the current Def Min that a class of OPV's will replace the ACPB's and a slightly previous announcement of a class of up to 21 replacement Pacific Patrol boats.
I keep asking myself can the Government find a solution to not only allowing the RAN to procure the best possible option for the Future Frigate and also keep the Naval shipbuilding industry 'alive', all within the time constrains and also budget constraints it has to contend with too, is it possible??
The more obvious solution, the one the Government has flagged, is to start work on an evolved AWD hull sooner rather than later, this may allow for continuity across the various yards currently building blocks for the AWD project and the remaining work to be done on the LHD's too.
Another alternative is to start building a reasonably sized class of OPV's asap. Lots of questions, how many hulls? Can the hulls be built in blocks and can those blocks be shared around as with the AWD? Can the work cover the time effectively between the end of the AWD's and the Future Frigates?
If not enough to fill the gap, can the letting of contracts for the replacement Pacific Patrol boats and possible the LCH(R) be let too? Can all of the above give industry the 'time' it needs to survive and also allow the Government and the RAN the 'time' it needs to select the 'best' available option for the Future Frigate?
Lots of questions, not a lot of answers!
Sill the main question is, can the requirements of the RAN, Industry and their respective supporting State Governments all be satisfied? Can they all be winners and there are no losers?
Bloody hard one to answer!!