Max Blenkin
From the dark days when the Navy was hard-pressed to sustain a single operational Collins submarine, it's now able to keep two and often three at sea while others undergo maintenance.
In the latest report card on Collins sustainment, UK submarine expert John Coles said few would have predicted the performance of the six Collins subs would graduate from mediocre to excellent in less than four years at almost level funding.
"If there were unit citation medals to be awarded, the Submarine Enterprise would surely qualify," he said in the report.
Collins availability would have been even better if not for a fire aboard HMAS Waller in February 2014. The sub didn't rejoin the fleet until mid-2016.
The latest review found two submarines were available for operations more than 90 per cent of the time, three for more than 50 per cent and four occasionally since January 2014.
Now that HMAS Farncomb has completed full-cycle docking - two years of top to bottom maintenance - four boat availability is expected to increase.
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