Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates

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hairyman

Active Member
This is the best summary I've found of DCNS' plans for FSP (sorry can't post links):

en.meretmarine.com/dcns-groundwork-ran-sub-programme/168786

Seems sensible to me:

- Avoid the cock-ups of the AWD Alliance separate designer/builder arrangement
- Bring in an experienced shipyard to own, operate, and upgrade ASC
- Help critical French suppliers set up shop in Australia
- Heavy emphasis on upskilling and training the required Australian trades

The uproar seems to be over the fact that the design work and early program mgt will all be done in France (300-500 people for the first 5 years), with minimal Australian help. Well sorry, if you knew how to design a sub you obviously wouldn't be buying French (or option J or D)...
Maybe we should say "Stuff the French", and design a larger version of the Collins (with a little help from our friends)
 

the road runner

Active Member
Maybe we should say "Stuff the French", and design a larger version of the Collins (with a little help from our friends)
I think an issues arises who owns the IP of Collins.. It would have been great when we first chose Collins to ensure a contract was written that stated the Commonwealth of Australia owns the IP of the boat ! Pay a premium to Kockums and ensure Australian can chop and change the Collins as we see fit

The IP has been a major issue ,i recall when we sent the prop's off to the USA to get honed ,an issue arose and Kockums was not to happy...The ship carrying the prop's was held off the American coast while the issues was being resolved in the courts !

All in all it would have been great to have followed on with a Collins MK2 after boat 3 or 4

Hopefully one day we can say ...that a Sub was designed and built by Australians for Australians ! But i wont hold my breath on that one
 

Stampede

Well-Known Member
A big empty ship is cheaper than a tightly packed smaller one, but it can and will be filled with gear the ADF already has, will be getting, or could easily get. The larger crew isn't an issue either as the navy has a stack of sailors who would love to go to sea but can't because they don't have the required qualifications and or experience to fill the available billets. Sometimes its because there are not sufficient qualified supervisors or mentors to get these sailors up to speed. This is where bigger ships are useful, they can employ more trainees and ensure they have the supervision and get the experience they need and then can step, fully qualified into a skimmer.

As I stated before big empty ships with flat decks, hangers and maintenance shops are very useful for supporting deployed rotorcraft from other ships, even carrying spare or alternative aircraft for other ships. Then there are UAVs and UCAVs, as well as other arising technologies, such as 3D printing of components and consumables from raw materials on board, this is something the USN is seriously looking at for their carriers, LHDs and LHAs.

The counter argument is they are big, they look expensive, therefore we can't afford them.
Hi Volk just a thought

How about a modern version of the Hybrid helicopter Destroyer/Cruisers used by the Italians and Soviets in the 70's and 80's.Ships such as the Vitorio Veneto and the Moskva had a meaningful complement of Helicopters and still carried a good weapons fit out.
Would a future destroyer with the weapons and sensors planned for our ANZAC replacement integrated with a two spot flight deck, supported by a large hangar space for 6 / 8 helicopters .underneath have a future.
Such a ship is certainly not trying to be a flat top aircraft carrier, yet would provide the additional ASW, SAR, and Logistical helicopters needed of a task force while still maintaining its war fight capabilities.

Could any of the three contenders for our future destroyers program accommodate a hull extension to provide flight deck and accommodation space for additional helicopters, crew and services.

Regards S
 

rockitten

Member
Maybe we should say "Stuff the French", and design a larger version of the Collins (with a little help from our friends)
Or, we should license EB or Lockheed Martin and develop a bland new design free of those European IP red tapes......

Seriously, the devil are in the small details. All those French BS doesn't seems convincing to me as we have seen how they "deliver" their promises on Tiger ARH.
 

the road runner

Active Member
Or, we should license EB or Lockheed Martin and develop a bland new design free of those European IP red tapes......

Seriously, the devil are in the small details. All those French BS doesn't seems convincing to me as we have seen how they "deliver" their promises on Tiger ARH.
I don't think we have time on our side to design a new sub from scratch.
I am sure EB could build us a new sub..but at what cost....

I can see us having similar issues, we had with Collins, in regards to it being a unique sub for Australian requirements ! I think that is where the "risk" comes into play. It will not be an OTS design ...

Just hope Boat 1 will be built and tested as a prototype, (even if it slows the program down) fix all flaws then start the build process for boats 2-12 once Boat 1 has proven itself to be fit for task

I would have much rather we developed a Collins 2 or gone with Japan !.

But ...the powers that be have gone for the Croissant option :D
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Could any of the three contenders for our future destroyers program accommodate a hull extension to provide flight deck and accommodation space for additional helicopters, crew and services.

Regards S
I wonder about the Type 26. It has enough space to land a chinook and can hanger two merlins with additional flex space. That space could be reconfigured. In addition, it isn't the longest hull, so could possibly be stretched another 5 m or so.

Collins II
Yes I worry about the French as well. But if you wanted to build the most capable conventional sub, the short fin Barracuda has a lot going for it. The sheer size and volume of the dam thing puts it in another class. No body is building conventional at this size. For Australia this means we can build a conventional submarine with the sort of capabilities we want and need.

Currently anyone who has been in a Collins knows how tight it is. We would need a significant change in Collins to deliver what we want in the future. Its not that much smaller than a Los Angles class.
 

hauritz

Well-Known Member
Hi Volk just a thought

How about a modern version of the Hybrid helicopter Destroyer/Cruisers used by the Italians and Soviets in the 70's and 80's.Ships such as the Vitorio Veneto and the Moskva had a meaningful complement of Helicopters and still carried a good weapons fit out.
Would a future destroyer with the weapons and sensors planned for our ANZAC replacement integrated with a two spot flight deck, supported by a large hangar space for 6 / 8 helicopters .underneath have a future.
Such a ship is certainly not trying to be a flat top aircraft carrier, yet would provide the additional ASW, SAR, and Logistical helicopters needed of a task force while still maintaining its war fight capabilities.

Could any of the three contenders for our future destroyers program accommodate a hull extension to provide flight deck and accommodation space for additional helicopters, crew and services.

Regards S
I guess you could add the Jeanne d'Arc to that list as well. It seems to be a ship design that has gone out of vogue ... if in fact it ever was in vogue.

I notice that all three of these ships have below deck hangers so that option wouldn't work with the 3 ships being considered for the future frigate program. You could stretch the ships I guess ... but it looks like you would need to extend the length of the ships by about 30 meters to get a second landing spot and of course that would still only leave you with hanger space for two helos.

To be honest it isn't hard to see why this design seemed to fall out of favour.
 

t68

Well-Known Member
I don't think we have time on our side to design a new sub from scratch.
someone came up with the idea of building Collins MKII. with IP issues I don't think the Swedes would mind too much getting some extra coin for warming over the design




Just hope Boat 1 will be built and tested as a prototype, (even if it slows the program down) fix all flaws then start the build process for boats 2-12 once Boat 1 has proven itself to be fit for task
prefer a 13 boat build using the 1st as a test bed for life of program

I would have much rather we developed a Collins 2 or gone with Japan !.
my sentiments as well, I just get the feeling that the French are using us as cash cow for test and evaluation for there own needs first, least the with the Japanese it would have made more strategic sense

just an outsiders view
 

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
I guess you could add the Jeanne d'Arc to that list as well. It seems to be a ship design that has gone out of vogue ... if in fact it ever was in vogue.

I notice that all three of these ships have below deck hangers so that option wouldn't work with the 3 ships being considered for the future frigate program. You could stretch the ships I guess ... but it looks like you would need to extend the length of the ships by about 30 meters to get a second landing spot and of course that would still only leave you with hanger space for two helos.

To be honest it isn't hard to see why this design seemed to fall out of favour.
Also most Escorts at the time did not have a hanger and flight pad fitted so was seen as a quick way to get lots of Choppers to sea. From the mid 70s onward nearly all Destroyers & Frigates have been fitted for Helicopter ops. Better to have 1 Helo on every ship instead of 4-6 on a handfull.
The Japanese built the Haruna & Shirane classes which could carry up to 3 Med size Helo's and they were replaced by the Hyuga's so the Japanese certainly thought the through deck was better.
 

hauritz

Well-Known Member
Just hope Boat 1 will be built and tested as a prototype, (even if it slows the program down) fix all flaws then start the build process for boats 2-12 once Boat 1 has proven itself to be fit for task

I would have much rather we developed a Collins 2 or gone with Japan !.
That is why I would push for a Collins 2. We have already built 6 prototypes.

The Soryu's themselves are just an evolution of the previous class and would have to be substantially modified for Australian requirements.

It wouldn't surprise me in fact if the Son of Collin's required less modification work than the Soryu.
 

Stampede

Well-Known Member
I guess you could add the Jeanne d'Arc to that list as well. It seems to be a ship design that has gone out of vogue ... if in fact it ever was in vogue.

I notice that all three of these ships have below deck hangers so that option wouldn't work with the 3 ships being considered for the future frigate program. You could stretch the ships I guess ... but it looks like you would need to extend the length of the ships by about 30 meters to get a second landing spot and of course that would still only leave you with hanger space for two helos.

To be honest it isn't hard to see why this design seemed to fall out of favour.
Thanks for the reply.

Realistically such a ship would be a start from scratch effort, but as we have three ships in contention for the ANZAC replacement I just thought work with what you have.
True these type of ships are out of vogue, or for that matter were never in; however to the layman like myself they on face value seem to have some attributes.
I guess all ships are a just cog on a wheel that collectively just lend there own skill set to the big picture.
Looks like hybrid Helicopter / destroyers don't have a cog!!!!
It appears that regarding aviation at sea large flat decks are still in favour.
Glad we have the Canberra class.

Regards S
 

koala

Member
It almost sounds like DCNS are tying to do a eurocopter on us, promise the world, deliver sweet fa then only start to get their stuff together after Australians step up into the critical roles. Still think we missed a bullet with option J . IMO the best option was a local design but labors prevarication and Abbots stuffing around stuffed that up.

Maybe our politician's are to young to remember the Mirage debacle, the Frogs might even stop us using our subs if they don't agree on the conflict!!
 

swerve

Super Moderator
I guess you could add the Jeanne d'Arc to that list as well. It seems to be a ship design that has gone out of vogue ... if in fact it ever was in vogue.

I notice that all three of these ships have below deck hangers ...
The Italian Andrea Doria class cruisers (would be called destroyers now 6500 tons) carried up to four helicopters & had a deck level hangar, as did Tiger & Blake (also 4 helicopters) - which were real cruiser-size, converted late WW2 cruisers, laid up incomplete at the end of the war.
 

rjtjrt

Member
Maybe our politician's are to young to remember the Mirage debacle, the Frogs might even stop us using our subs if they don't agree on the conflict!!
I'm glad someone else remembers that disgusting betrayal by France.
Also other European countries did same, including our oldest and closest European ally.
 

oldsig127

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
I'm glad someone else remembers that disgusting betrayal by France.
Also other European countries did same, including our oldest and closest European ally.
Meh. Sweden got all shirty about Carl Gustav during Vietnam, yet it never really affected the Collins class.

Maybe what we have here is just another straw man to knock down and resuscitate every couple of weeks in this forum, especially by the "French are cowardly surrender monkeys" school of history

oldsig
 
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