French submarine contract problems for Australia

The French naval company Naval Group promised Australia a 90-percent share of the native industry in ordering submarines. However, it turned out that none of this, and the eventual participation of Australian companies would be much smaller. Similar promises are made by the French to Poland in connection with the Orka programme.

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In the struggle for a contract to supply submarines new cryptonym types Orka shipbuilding company Naval Group (formerly DCNS), supports its marketing action in Poland with the success of a contract obtained in 2016 for the construction of twelve Shortfin Barracuda submarines for Australia. The contract worth EUR 39 billion was also widely commented on in Poland, and some media presented it even as a model for the Ork project. Technology transfer, construction of all ships in the user's country, creation of new jobs, advanced industrial cooperation – these are truly catchy slogans. A representative of DCNS in Poland in one of the statements to Newseria Biznes said that the decision to select the offer was taken "after taking account of strategic, technological and industrial cooperation criteria". The voice in this case was taken by then defence minister Antoni Macierewicz, who in October 2017 complimented the Australian defence minister Christopher Pyne in Warsaw stating that in the area of submarines we have common interests with Australia.

Unfulfilled promises to industry

However, it is not known how Minister Pyne reacted to the words of the President of the Naval Group of Australia Brenda Clark, who, on June 6, 2018, during a discussion on the future of the Australian shipbuilding industry held in the Australian Senate, denied that the submarine construction program for Australia had ever included assumptions ensuring 90% of the Australian industry's involvement in this project. The Australian newspaper The Advertieser informed about the case, which pointed out that otherwise it was due to fierce discussions before the signing of the contract with Australia, when the then head of DCNS Australia Sean Costello assured that the Australian industry's involvement in the project would be 90%. This figure is remembered not only by the public but also by Australian defence industry minister Christopher Pyne, reads in The Advertieser.

Meanwhile, Brent Clark told Senators that the level of engagement of the Australian industry was not reflected in any of the documents, and the previous head of the company, giving this value, had to mean the degree of involvement of production only in part of the steel works, such as sheet bending and welding of the hull structure. The ship's production consists of a number of processes involving the delivery and assembly of components that are overseas contributions, stated Brent.

Drive problems

Moreover, during the same meeting in the senate a well-known physicist and defence expert Aidan Morrison expressed surprise at the equipment of Shortfin Barracud's ships in a strugo-water drive (pump-jet). In his opinion, scientific studies have confirmed that the drive of this type is not efficient, which means a shorter range of underwater swimming and the need to more frequently surface the ship, which in turn does not have the effect of increasing its detection. According to the expert, the pump-jet requires very high power that only the nuclear reactor can provide. Meanwhile, Australian submarines will be powered by a classic diesel-electric gym, and the conversion of this system is increasingly discussed. However, this would entail significant structural changes and the need to redesign the ship, not to mention an increase in the cost of implementing the project. However, feedback from the circle of people directly involved in the project calms down that pump-jet drive critics do not know the specific technical details of this solution, and Brent Clark closes the discussion by stating that data on this subject is classified. Why?

Last year, it was revealed that the drive problems were also the direct cause of a two-year delay in the introduction of the first Barracuda to France, as reported by the French fleet commander Admiral Christophe Prazuck in July 2017. French submarines are also equipped with a pump-jet drive, but it is powered by nuclear energy. The Barracudas will also be the first French submarines equipped with MdCN-SL maneuvering missiles, which, with the delay of the launch of the ships, will also translate into the need to shift the global launch of the submarine. This fact is not conducive to the promotion of MdCN-SL in Poland, especially after the failed baptism of its water equivalent during the coalition missile attack on Syria in May 2018.

Australian Defence Department: expensive French submarines

However, this is not the end of the French contract of the century. In a report on the future of the Australian submarine fleet, issued by the Australian Department of Defense in September 2017, the purchase of Shortfin Barracuda ships is criticised primarily for the disproportionately high cost of gaining ships against their inadequate tactical and operational capabilities. In particular, the document criticises the lack of air-independent propulsion systems (AIPs), which according to the authors of the report deviates from the standards adopted for the equipment of modern conventional submarines. The report also highlights the need for Australia to have ships capable of operating in the coastal zone that Shortfin Barracuda does not meet.

The Norwegians chose a German proposal

Critic about the Australian election was also expressed in Naval Forces magazine by marine weapons expert Dr. Hans J. Ohff, who not only expressed surprise at the purchase of ships without an AIP system, but also consent to their equipment with anachronic acid-lead batteries. From this lesson, the expert notes, the conclusions were drawn by the Norwegians, who instead of the French Scorpène chose a modified German Type 212A submarine, equipped with a modern AIP drive and lithium-ion batteries.

A shadow on the Australian contract of the century also lies the investigation launched in late 2017 against one of the employees of the Australian Defence Department, which was to be involved in setting up a contract for French submarines for Australia. This information was posted by ABC News Online on December 15, 2017, citing the effects of Senator Rex Patrick's defense department hearing. The investigation is ongoing.

Signature: tz, head, photo: Pixabay

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