So with Huon being decommissioned what is left in regards to the MCM Role? And where are the new ships to replace them? Honestly this is becoming a joke.. all I see is Anzacs being retired.. collins breaking apart… Hobarts taken away for upgrades… evolved cape class with. No weapons.. Arafura with no missions assigned to them. The navy has absolutely no war fighting ability at all. Surely you will have to upgun the new Arafura class vessels to the teeth and at least pretend they are warfighting ships in our near region while we working on the GPF and hunters coming into service.., as we actually have nothing for 10 more years!! I’m actually scared if war broke out!
Hi Tbone, I think the decision to reverse the minehunter replacement program is one of the early examples of technology outpacing the platform, rendering it obsolete. Containerised long range mine hunting UUVs can be loaded to any ship with a flat deck from any port, and be operated from outside the risk zone. Put it on a frigate in a contested area. Use a supply tender in safe regions. Launch it off the shore from a truck as part of a forward deployment with the army. It no longer needs a dedicated purpose built vessel. Build 100 of them for less than the cost of a single ship.
The Huons, for all their specialisation and ability to work within a mine field, are unfortunately a relic from an outdated time. Replacing them with something similar would be to perpetuate this same situation. I suspect this is at the heart of the government's decision and it avoids throwing good money away on something that is going to be ineffective.
Sad as that is, that's the reality. I think the speed of change here has caught everyone by suprise.
The lack of a replacement for the ANZACs and Colins is disappointing and, unlike the Huons, could have been avoided. But we are where we are. In this situation sometimes its better to withdraw, and then consolidate and rebuild. It's akin to saving your strength for the long haul and coming back into the fight later.
ANZAC and Arunta are too expensive to maintain and we can't crew them. Sacrificing them allows the remaining six frigates to be adequately supported. It's a brutal strategy but necessary, and I would view that six functional ships is better than eight threadbare ships. There is a replacement class coming and these six ships now just need to last a bit longer. They'll get a coat of paint to help with that. They will be retired very quickly once the GPFs come online from 2029 onwards and the Hunters from 2034. If there are any remaining after 2035/36 I would be suprised.
I would view the Hobart upgrade as a high value investment. One of the best we are making. This makes them as good a combat platform as any other frontline destroyer in the world when paired up with a gaggle of LOCSVs. It just takes time and costs a lot (somehow more than the original construction, inflation is a killer). I still wish we had more of them.
Colins is just an example of what happens when you run the clock out, have no remaining good options and are forced to spend huge amounts of money gaining more time. I think LOTE is in the order of $6B, which is the equivalent of 2/3 the GPF program or 1 Virginia. The Colins need to extend into the 2040s for everything to work and yes we will loose a lot of availability over the late 2020s as they go through this (I think the first one is 2026). The LOTE has a big scope, so they come out looking good. We just have to grit our teeth and get through it. Once upgraded they will be able to conduct the near shore requirements where they can be protected easier and their snorkelling limitation will be less of an exposure, while the SSNs do the long distance and contested waters stuff. So they will add value.
The Naval Ship Building Plan should be updated and released later this year. It should provide a lot of the timing, scheduling and strategic questions we are all seeking (at least some of them anyway).
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