A Mogami-class frigate, one of two shortlisted contenders for the SEA 3000 general purpose frigate requirement. Image: Screenshot.
There’s a term for media releases issued on Fridays: ”taking out the trash”.
And Defence – or rather, the current Defence Ministers – are quickly developing a habit of releasing bad news or non-news stories on Friday afternoons in an attempt to avoid scrutiny, when most of Australia’s ever-shrinking defence media contingent is either scrambling to file stories for the weekend or has already clocked off.
On Friday, 13 December, the government dropped the announcement that the Collins-class submarine program had been put on the ministerial Projects of Concern list due to ongoing questions over sustainment of the six vessels.
And on Friday, 20 December, the government released its 2024 Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan, which is designed to lay out a program of continuous naval shipbuilding for the next 30 years and, hopefully, avoid a repeat of last decade’s ‘’valley of death’’ where a skilled workforce was in place but there were no or few active projects to keep it occupied.
The government says its 2024 Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan outlines a “record investment of up to $159 billion over the next decade” through the Defence Integrated Investment Program (IIP), which is designed to significantly boost Australia’s maritime capabilities.
It says the approach has added “55 newly announced vessels” over the previous plan laid out under the former Coalition government.
These 55 vessels comprise about nine new Project SEA 3000 General Purpose Frigates (GPF), four additional Enhanced Cape-Class Patrol Boats (ECCPB), up to nine SSN-AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarines (SSN), a few extra Guardian-class Patrol Boats for our South Pacific neighbours, eight Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel – Heavy (LMV-H) landing craft, 18 LMV-Medium (M) landing craft, and up to six large optionally crewed surface vessels (OCSV).
However, the AUKUS submarine deal and the two-phased Project LAND 8710 landing craft requirement had already been devised and announced by the previous Coalition government.
Further, the nine new GPFs announced last year will come at the expense of reductions in both the SEA 5000 Hunter-class frigate project from nine to six ships, and in the SEA 1180 Offshore Patrol Vessel project from 12 to six. So, in reality, the only ‘’new’’ vessels Labor has announced are the additional ECCPBs, including two for the Australian Border force announced on 22 December.
A future class of destroyers is planned from the late 2030s to replace the current Hobart class, although the first boat is unlikely to be in the water before 2045.
The government says the plan lays out a 30-year pipeline of construction and sustainment projects across South Australia and Western Australia, and that it will create “an intergenerational pipeline of naval construction projects that will support around 8500 jobs in shipbuilding and sustainment by 2030, and an additional 20,000 jobs out to 2055”.
The build program is supported by previously announced funding to the tune of $1.5 billion to provide 500,000 free TAFE and vocational education training places; $250 million to attract, train and retain a nuclear-powered submarine workforce; and the implementation of the South Australia Defence Industry Workforce and Skills Report and Action Plans in partnership with the South Australian Government.
It has also previously announced that it is progressing design and enabling works to deliver major infrastructure upgrades for the nation’s maritime industrial base, including for the new Defence Precinct at Henderson near Fremantle and the Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne in Adelaide.
It further says the shipbuilding plan will be updated on a biennial basis to keep pace with the strategic environment, with the next iteration scheduled for release in 2026.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the long-term investment laid out in the plan represented the government’s vision for continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment.
“Through the most significant investment in maritime capability in Australia’s history, we will see generations of naval construction projects happen right here, with plans to construct and upgrade over 70 vessels across South Australia and Western Australia,” he said.
Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy added: “Under this plan, the government is building world-class shipyards and creating tens of thousands of well-paid jobs for decades to come.
“The government’s record investment in the maritime domain will deliver a much bigger and more lethal navy and an army that’s appropriate to our strategic environment.”
