Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, and Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, today released the report of Phase 1 of the Review of the Sustainment of Australia’s Collins Class submarines, the Coles Review.
The review is being led by Mr John Coles, an independent expert from BMT Defence Services in the UK.
Sustainment of the Collins Class submarines is at the top of the Government’s Projects of Concern list.
Mr Smith said the sustainment of the submarine fleet was a complex task that has proven challenging for Defence and ASC for a lengthy period of time.
In August, Minister Smith and Minister Clare released the terms of reference for the Review of the Sustainment of Australia’s Collins Class submarines.
This Review is examining complex engineering issues associated with submarine sustainment.
Just as the Rizzo Report provides a plan to improve the repair and management of the Navy’s amphibious fleet, Mr Coles is developing a plan to improve the repair and management of our submarine fleet.
Just as the Rizzo Report provides a plan to improve the repair and management of the Navy’s amphibious fleet, Mr Coles is developing a plan to improve the repair and management of our submarine fleet.
“The Coles review is an important step in implementing improvements to the way the Collins class submarines have been sustained over a long period,” Mr Smith said.
Key Findings
Phase 1 of the report identifies a range of key issues that need to be addressed:
• Poor submarine availability caused by a crew shortfall, lack of spares and unreliable equipment;
• A lack of cohesion in strategic leadership;
• Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Navy and Industry not working collectively as an “Enterprise”;
• A lack of clarity around accountability, authority and responsibility;
• Submarine knowledge thinly spread;
• Lack of robustness of Navy’s contribution to manning and sustainment;
• No long term strategic plan for efficient use of assets;
• DMO seeking direct involvement at the tactical level;
• A performance-based ethos not being embedded in ASC;
• No long term strategic plan for efficient asset utilisation; and
• Unclear requirement and unrealistic goals.
• Poor submarine availability caused by a crew shortfall, lack of spares and unreliable equipment;
• A lack of cohesion in strategic leadership;
• Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Navy and Industry not working collectively as an “Enterprise”;
• A lack of clarity around accountability, authority and responsibility;
• Submarine knowledge thinly spread;
• Lack of robustness of Navy’s contribution to manning and sustainment;
• No long term strategic plan for efficient use of assets;
• DMO seeking direct involvement at the tactical level;
• A performance-based ethos not being embedded in ASC;
• No long term strategic plan for efficient asset utilisation; and
• Unclear requirement and unrealistic goals.
Interim recommendations
Phase 1 makes interim recommendations about how to address some of these issues.
Mr Coles’ interim recommendations are:
• Resources should be directed to the provision of spares leading directly to increased availability;
• Any decision to reduce the agreed Materiel Ready Days in a year should only be taken by the Collins Class Program Manager.
• The In-Service Support Contact (ISSC) between the Defence Materiel Organisation and ASC, currently under discussion, should be placed as planned;
• The classification of Priority 1 Urgent Defects by the submarine commander should be moderated by Commander SUBFOR to avoid over classification purely to increase priority of spares; and
• As part of the crew training program, Commanding Officers, Marine Engineering Officers and Weapons Electrical Engineering Officers should undertake a pre-joining course at ASC and Pacific Marine Batteries (and other key suppliers) to gain a better insight into some of the intrinsic submarine design and equipment characteristics.
• Any decision to reduce the agreed Materiel Ready Days in a year should only be taken by the Collins Class Program Manager.
• The In-Service Support Contact (ISSC) between the Defence Materiel Organisation and ASC, currently under discussion, should be placed as planned;
• The classification of Priority 1 Urgent Defects by the submarine commander should be moderated by Commander SUBFOR to avoid over classification purely to increase priority of spares; and
• As part of the crew training program, Commanding Officers, Marine Engineering Officers and Weapons Electrical Engineering Officers should undertake a pre-joining course at ASC and Pacific Marine Batteries (and other key suppliers) to gain a better insight into some of the intrinsic submarine design and equipment characteristics.
Implementation of these recommendations will commence immediately.
The Phase 1 report proposes the scope of work for Phase 2 of the review. Mr Coles has proposed four areas for detailed analysis:
(i) Integration and Program Management
(ii) Commercial
(iii) Engineering Reliability and Navy, and
(iv) Costing.
(ii) Commercial
(iii) Engineering Reliability and Navy, and
(iv) Costing.
In Phase 2, the review team will gather and analyse data to put forward well-evidenced findings and recommendations on how to improve performance in Collins submarine sustainment.
Mr Coles will provide the Phase 2 report in April 2012.
The Coles Review will also inform development of the Future Submarine Project.
Minister Smith said that “Problems with the Navy’s current Collins Class are of long standing and well known. It is essential that Navy and Defence learn everything they possibly can from the experience with the Collins Class to inform development of the Future Submarine project.”
“The implementation the Coles Review will help build confidence in our capacity to sustain our current fleet of submarines, so that we can turn with confidence to the acquisition program for our Future Submarine.”
The report of Phase 1 of the Review of the Sustainment of Australia’s Collins Class submarines is available at: http://www.defence.gov.au/dmo/
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Progress of future submarine project
Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, and Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, today provided an update on the Future Submarine Project, SEA 1000.
The 2009 Defence White paper outlined the Government’s commitment to acquire 12 new Future Submarines, to be assembled in South Australia.
Minister Smith said that the Future Submarine project is major national undertaking and is of a scale, complexity and duration never before experienced within Defence. The submarines will be constructed over the course of the next three decades.
Options for the Future Submarine range from a proven fully Military off the Shelf design through to a completely new submarine. All options are being considered, other than nuclear propulsion which the Government has ruled out.
Development of the Future Submarine Project is being informed by careful consideration of lessons learnt from the Collins Class project.
Minister Smith said that “Problems with the Collins Class are of long standing and well known. It is essential that Navy and Defence learn everything they possibly can from the experience with the Collins Class to inform development of the Future Submarine project”.
The release today of the Interim Report of the Coles Review is an important part of that process.
The Government and the RAND Corporation today also released the RAND study into Australia’s Submarine Design Capabilities and Capacities.
The RAND Report has identified that Australia has a considerable amount of expertise, but there are gaps. One key area in which we need to build expertise is submarine propulsion systems. RAND has suggested that land-based test facilities are a useful way to begin to build that expertise.
The RAND report also found that Australia will need a significant amount of help from overseas to deliver the Future Submarines.
This year, the Government has held high level discussions with the United States on the future submarine project.
Minister Smith said that at AUSMIN in November 2010, Australia and the United States agreed that Australian-United States cooperation on submarine systems was strategically important for both countries.
The high level of submarine interoperability between Australia and the United States and our technical cooperation will extend into future submarine acquisition program.
The Government also announced today that three important steps had been taken in the development of the Future Submarine Programme:
• The Government has approved the release of Requests for Information to three overseas submarine designers offering off-the-shelf submarine designs, which will provide a better understanding of the capabilities of off-the-shelf options. The designers are:
• DCNS (France), designer of the Scorpene
• HDW (Germany), designer of the Type 212 and Type 214 submarines
• Navantia (Spain), designer of the S-80 submarine;
• Defence has entered into a contract with Babcock for a study into the establishment of a land based propulsion systems test facility, which will inform engineering development of the future submarines.
• The Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation will develop in close consultation with the Australian Defence Industry a Future Submarine Industry Skills Plan.
• DCNS (France), designer of the Scorpene
• HDW (Germany), designer of the Type 212 and Type 214 submarines
• Navantia (Spain), designer of the S-80 submarine;
• Defence has entered into a contract with Babcock for a study into the establishment of a land based propulsion systems test facility, which will inform engineering development of the future submarines.
• The Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation will develop in close consultation with the Australian Defence Industry a Future Submarine Industry Skills Plan.
Minister Clare said: “The Future Submarines Project is the biggest and most complex Defence project we have ever embarked upon. It will involve hundreds of companies, thousands of workers and a lot of skills that do not currently exist in sufficient numbers.
“Some of those skills are available overseas, others will have to be grown here. Now is the time to develop a plan to make sure we have the skills we need when we start designing and building the submarines.”
Government will make further announcements regarding the Future Submarine project in 2012.
The RAND Corporation study into Australia’s Submarine Design Capabilities and Capacities will be available at: www.rand.org