News Report: Russia, Germany in Race for Indian Navy's $7.8 Billion Submarine Tender

INS Kalvari first of the P-75 Submarines built by MDL

India’s Ministry of Defense has asked six foreign shipbuilders to respond to the Indian Navy’s long-delayed Project 75 India (P-75I) program, which is worth over $7.8 billion.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The request for information (RFI) has been sent to six selected overseas naval shipbuilders asking for details about locally building six diesel-electric submarines under newly-formulated strategic partnership model under which India’s private defense shipbuilder will collaborate with a foreign manufacturer.

Official sources told Sputnik that Indian Navy had issued RFI on July 19 to Russia’s Rosoboronexport Rubin Design Bureau, France’s Naval Group, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Spain’s Navantia, and Sweden’s Saab.

Companies will have to respond to the Indian Navy’s request by September 15 this year with operational details of their respective submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems and anti-surface, anti-submarine and land-attack capabilities.

News Story: SDF aircraft deviates from runway during training at Yonago airport

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo AirCraft

TOTTORI, Japan (Kyodo) -- An Air Self-Defense Force plane deviated from its path during takeoff training Friday at Yonago airport in western Japan, stopping in a nearby grass field and prompting brief closure of the runway.

The C-2 transport plane became uncontrollable with its brakes failing to work and went into the grass field after cutting across the runway around 6:40 a.m., according to the ASDF's Miho base in Tottori Prefecture. Its six-strong crew was unhurt.

The runway was reopened about three hours later after the aircraft was removed from near the runway, the base said. The ASDF and police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Business jet customization could be key as Singapore firms up maritime patrol requirement

CGI 0f the SAAB Swordfish MPA

By: Mike Yeo

SINGAPORE — Maritime Patrol Aircraft, or MPA, based on business jet platforms have taken prominence at the IMDEX Asia maritime and defense exhibition in Singapore, with manufacturers touting capability at lower cost, along with willingness to customize their solutions to customer requirements as their main selling points. 

Saab and IAI devoted significant amounts of floor space at their IMDEX Asia booths to their products, the Swordfish and EL/I-3360, respectively, with both emphasizing their willingness to customize and fine-tune their aircraft according to customer requirements. 

Saab recently announced a significant increase in the stores carrying capacity of the Swordfish, with the Bombardier Global Express 6000 business jet it is based on now being cleared to carry up to four RBS-15 anti-ship missiles or six lightweight torpedoes on four external hard points. 

It also says that the high level of commonality between the Swordfish and the Globaleye airborne early warning and control aircraft it is currently building for the United Arab Emirates means that development work on the Swordfish is already 70 percent complete. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: (NZ) Defence Force mystified by report it has started negotiations with Japan over aircraft order

Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

TOM PULLAR-STRECKER

The Defence Force has shot down a Japanese report that Japan and United States company Boeing are already in a "one-on-one fight" to supply maritime patrol aircraft worth more than $1 billion to the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The Government confirmed in November that it planned to replace its fleet of six Orion maritime patrol aircraft, five Hercules transporters and two Boeing 757s within about the next 10 years. 

The Nikkei Asian Review reported New Zealand would make a decision on replacement aircraft as "early as this [northern] summer".

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo AirCraft

Representatives from the Japanese Defence Ministry and Kawasaki Heavy Industries visited Wellington last week to negotiate the sale of Kawasaki's P-1 patrol aircraft and C-2 transporters in what would be Japan's biggest-ever arms export deal, it said.

But a Defence Force spokesman said it had not received such a visit and it was "not involved in any negotiations with the Japanese Government or Kawasaki Heavy Industries". He also indicated there would be no decision on replacement aircraft this year.

Read the full story at Stuff

News Story: Japan in talks with New Zealand for defense aircraft

Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Tokyo aiming for its first major arms contract

TOKYO -- Japan is in negotiations with New Zealand to export the Self-Defense Forces' patrol and transport aircraft, in hopes of beating out U.S. and European competition to score its first large-scale arms contract.

The deal will also involve the maintenance of the planes, and is potentially worth billions of dollars. Tokyo in September provided unclassified information on the P-1 maritime patrol plane and C-2 transporter, both developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, in response to Wellington's requests.

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo Aircraft

Representatives from Japan's defense ministry and Kawasaki Heavy are in New Zealand for negotiations. Japan could come up with a proposal in the first half of 2017 concerning the price, production process and maintenance of the planes. It will also consider jointly producing certain parts with New Zealand.

New Zealand will choose the winning bid as early as this summer out of a pool including American and European proposals. The Japanese government will also negotiate a treaty with New Zealand to allow the transfer of defense equipment and technology, a prerequisite to the potential deal.

Read the full story at Nikkei

News Story: Abe, Modi summit centered around contentious civilian nuclear pact, weapons exports

TOKYO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi concluded talks on Friday on a wide range of collaborative bilateral issues, with the signing of a contentious civilian nuclear pact.

The civilian nuclear pact will allow Japan to export nuclear power technology and military equipment to India, very much in the spotlight.

The move has drawn staunch criticism from some sections of the international community as well as anti-nuclear advocates, as this marks the first time Japan has inked this kind of deal with a country that is not a signatory of the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The treaty is a key international push aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons-related technology and making sure such dangerous capabilities do not fall into the hands of terrorists, militant groups or other insurgents.

The treaty, not signed by India, is also central to promoting cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to advance the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Firmer India-Japan Handshake on Cards in Post-Trump Era

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Japan visit will be first major interaction between two major Asian nations that were key components in Obama’s Pivot to Asia to checkmate China. As Trump is lukewarm towards that concept, Japan may try to edge closer to India with deals in nuclear energy, defence and high end technology.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The world community will watch Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan with a great deal of interest. Both Asian powers have edged closer to each others with a helping hand from the US. Now that US President-elect Donald Trump is opposed to the American military umbrella over Japan, the signs are Tokyo may utilize the Modi visit to signal greater proximity with India.

Modi’s second visit to Japan within a year was firmed up before the US voted to elect its President. His three-day stay in Japan will now acquire an extra edge because of the US President-elect’s distaste for bankrolling the defence requirements of its allies like Japan and South Korea. 

In such a situation, Japan may try to telegraph its intention to get closer to India by adding more substance in defense, security, trade and investment. 

Modi will visit the Kawasaki Heavy Industries facility in Kobe where high speed trains are manufactured. India has awarded a $ 13 bn Bullet Train contract that will run between Mumbai and Modi’s hometown Ahmedabad. The event will be high on optics as he will be accompanied by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Japan is in the fray for more contracts for semi-high speed trains as well.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: Contractors Hope for Movement in Japanese Defense Market

ATD-X Shinshin Stealth Fighter, development Prototype for the F-3

By: Paul Kallender-Umezu

TOKYO — Several nascent procurement plans offer some hope of increased revenues for Japan’s top military contractors, but the overall picture could remain business as usual without either a radical increase in defense spending post-2018, when Japan will release its new Mid-Term Defense Program (MTDP), or a major breakthrough in overseas weapons sales.

Japan’s defense budget request, unveiled in late August, requests 5.17 trillion yen ($50.6 billion), an increase of 2.3 percent over the current amount, and will include 100 billion yen ($980 million) to upgrade PAC-3 missile batteries to PAC-3 MSE and account for rising F-35 costs, according to local media reports.

But a radical rise in the budget or overseas sales success looks unlikely unless the prospect of an actual armed conflict with China emerges, or Japanese contractors and the Japanese defense establishment works much harder to sell internationally, according to analysts.

Japan’s defense procurement is governed by MTDPs that decide exactly how many and what type of weapon systems and programs will be required over a five-year period. Equipment is then bought by the Self-Defense Forces in small, annual lots. While the self-contained system provides a stable annual income for five years, it leaves little room or incentive for major contractors such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Mitsubishi Electric Corp., NEC Corp., Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), IHI Ltd. or Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. to invest in major new weapon platforms, and it leaves them inexperienced in international contract bidding. 

A case in point is this year’s loss to French shipbuilder DCNS by an MHI and KHI-led consortium to convince the Royal Australian Navy to purchase 12 advanced Soryu-class submarines in a deal worth up to $40 billion, despite the vaunted stealth superiority of the Japanese submarines, and their advanced propulsion systems.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: France Plans Inquiry into Scorpene Submarine Design Leak

A DCNS Scorpene class attack submarine (File Photo)

By: Pierre Tran

PARIS – France will conduct an inquiry into a leak to Australian newspapers of “sensitive” technical information on the Scorpene attack submarine being built for India, an unauthorized release which risks upsetting prospective client Canberra, naval shipbuilder DCNS said Aug. 23. 

DCNS was responding to The Australian newspaper, which has reported on a leak of 22,400 pages of company data on the six Scorpene boats under construction for the Indian Navy. 

“DCNS has been made aware of articles published in the Australian press related to the leakage of sensitive data about (the) Indian Scorpene,” the company told Defense News. 

“This serious matter is thoroughly investigated by the ...  French national authorities for defense security,” DCNS said. “This investigation will determine the exact nature of the leaked documents, the potential damages to DCNS customers as well as the responsibilities for this leakage,” the company said. 

An unauthorized disclosure of DCNS documents, stamped “Restricted Scorpene India” and dated 2011, comes at a delicate time for the company, which is in exclusive talks with Australia for a contract to design and build the Shortfin Barracuda A1 diesel-electric submarine. 

Australia picked DCNS after a competitive evaluation which attracted competing bids from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and a Japanese team comprising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, backed by Tokyo. 

The leak of those sensitive documents could lead Australia and the US to question French reliability on maintaining security on “top-secret data entrusted to France,” The Australian reported. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Vietnam eyes secondhand Japanese defense gear

A US Navy P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft

ATSUSHI TOMIYAMA

HANOI -- Vietnam is looking to beef up its defense capabilities, particularly now that the U.S. has fully lifted its arms embargo against the country.

It is especially keen to enhance its air patrols to counter China, which has been building military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea. The problem is the hefty price tag of U.S. gear. As an alternative, Vietnam is apparently looking to buy cheaper secondhand aircraft from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

More than a bargain

Vietnam has long wanted anti-submarine aircraft and many analysts thought Vietnam would move quickly to purchase one from the U.S. once the arms embargo was lifted. But Japan has also emerged as a potential supplier. According to a Japanese official, the Vietnamese navy informally asked in the spring to buy retired MSDF P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.

The P-3C patrol plane is a derivative of the P-3 Orion, a surveillance plane made by Lockheed Martin of the U.S. Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries is licensed to build the aircraft, which has broad search capabilities and is good at detecting submarines. The MSDF is said to own about 80 of the planes.

Vietnam frets about China's underwater threat. Beijing is estimated to have at least 70 submarines. The Southeast Asian country has purchased six Kilo-class submarines from Russia since 2015. But that is far from enough to counter China. An improved air patrol fleet is essential to its anti-submarine capabilities.

Read the full story at Nikkei Asian Review

News Story: Japan, Thailand eyeing arms deal

Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

TOKYO -- Japan and Thailand are looking into a deal that would essentially make them limited defense partners.

Tokyo is considering a contract that would allow transfers of defense equipment to Thailand and call for technological cooperation with the country, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Thailand is interested in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's P-1 patrol aircraft and US-2 large amphibious rescue aircraft.

Japan wants to get between Beijing and Thailand's military government, and the cooperation deal could serve as an effective wedge.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Tuesday will meet Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister and defense minister, in Bangkok to discuss the defense equipment deal.

Read the full story at Nikkei

News Story: Australian politics, Japan’s lack of experience behind failed bid to build subs

DCNS Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A

BY JESSE JOHNSON AND REIJI YOSHIDA

In a stunning reversal of fortunes, Japan — the onetime front-runner in the multibillion-dollar tender to build Australia’s next-generation submarine — failed in its bid to assemble the vessels, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Tuesday.

Turnbull said the submarines will be built in Australia by France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS.

“Defence Department experts were unequivocal — the French offer best represented the capabilities needed to meet Australia’s unique needs,” Turnbull said at a news conference.

The announcement, which came after media leaks revealed last week that Japan had effectively been eliminated from the bidding process, throws the future of Tokyo’s fledgling weapons-export program in doubt.

But the biggest question remains: How did Japan go from first to worst?

According to experts, a perfect storm of factors helped sink the deal, which would have been Japan’s first large-scale weapons export agreement in decades after the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved new rules in April 2014, ending an almost 50-year self-imposed ban on the practice.

While media reports had played up technological risks in buying Japan’s Soryu-class subs to replace its aging Collins-class vessels, experts said Australia’s domestic politics — with an election slated for July — likely played a more deciding factor.

“I think we cannot deny that domestic politics played a role, given the timing of the sub decision,” said Corey Wallace, a security policy analyst at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies at Freie Universitat, Berlin.

For Turnbull, who touted a mantra of “Australian jobs and Australian steel” during Tuesday’s news conference in the South Australian shipbuilding hub of Adelaide, the rapidly changing political environment was key, “given the difficulties the current administration might have in the state during the election,” Wallace said.

With the French pick, he secured firm promises that work on the subs would be done domestically with domestic materials — all ahead of the key poll.

Read the full story at Japan Times

News Story: Australia Chooses French Design for Future Submarine & France Celebrates ‘Historic’ Submarine Win in Australia

Australia Chooses French Design for Future Submarine

Nigel Pittaway

MELBOURNE, Australia – France's DCNS has won the Australian Future Submarine contract, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Tuesday.

The choice of the Shortfin Barracuda design surprised many observers, as DCNS has been in a hard-fought competition with Germany's Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems and the Government of Japan to build 12 submarines for the Royal Australian Navy for Australian $50 billion (US $38.5 billion). Word leaked out over the past few days that the Japanese had been ruled out.

The Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A is a slightly smaller, conventionally-powered derivative of the French Navy’s nuclear-powered Barracuda attack submarine. Detail design work is set to begin later this year.

“DCNS has been selected as our preferred international partner for the design of 12 Future Submarines, subject to further discussions on commercial matters,” the prime minister said in an official statement.

Turnbull said that the decision was driven by DCNS’ ability to best meet Australia’s requirements for a long-range, conventionally-powered submarine to replace the Royal Australian Navy’s six Collins Class boats.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

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France Celebrates ‘Historic’ Submarine Win in Australia

Pierre Tran

PARIS – France welcomed Australia’s “historic” pick of DCNS for exclusive negotiations for the Australian $50 billion ($38.7 billion), Future Submarine program, and President François Hollande made a visit to the office of the naval shipbuilder in the French capital.

“This is an historic program, the largest weapons export program our country has ever undertaken,” the Elysée president’s office said in a statement. The selection was possible due to a government-to-government agreement at a "strategic level" of over 50 years.

Australia’s selection opens negotiations for a three-year submarine design contract expected to be concluded at the end of this year or early 2017, a DCNS executive said.

“This decision marks the beginning of a process of exclusive negotiations which should lead to a contract signing in 2017,” said Hélène Masson, senior research fellow at the Fondation de Récherche Stratégique think tank. “France has a strong image of technological and industrial independence, the corner stone of French arms policy over the last 50 years, particularly in submarines.”

DCNS won with its Shortfin Barracuda A1 submarine design, a conventionally-powered derivative of the nuclear-powered Suffren-class submarine now under construction for the French Navy.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: France beats rival bidders to $40 billion Australian submarine deal

BY COLIN PACKHAM, NOBUHIRO KUBO AND TIM KELLY

France has beaten Japan and Germany to win a A$50 billion ($40 billion) deal to build a fleet of 12 submarines for Australia, one of the world's most lucrative defense contracts, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday.

The victory for state-owned naval contractor DCNS Group underscored France's strengths in developing a compelling military-industrial bid, and is a blow for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to develop defense export capabilities as part of a more muscular security agenda.

Reuters earlier reported that DCNS would be announced as the winner, citing sources with knowledge of the process.

"The recommendation of our competitive evaluation process ... was unequivocal that the French offer represented the capabilities best able to meet Australia's unique needs," Turnbull told reporters in the South Australian state capital of Adelaide where the submarines will be built.

In a statement, French President Francois Hollande said the deal "marks a decisive step in the strategic partnership between our two countries", while Prime Minister Manuel Valls said it was "cause for optimism and pride."

The French shipbuilder's share of the overall contract will amount to about 8 billion euros ($9.02 billion), according to sources with knowledge of the deal. DCNS chief Hervé Guillou said the deal would create around 4,000 French jobs, benefiting shipyards and industrial sites in Lorient, Brest, Nantes and Cherbourg.

Australia is ramping up defense spending, seeking to protect its strategic and trade interests in Asia-Pacific as the United States and its allies grapple with China's rising power.

Japan's government with its Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries boat had been seen as early frontrunners for the contract, but their inexperience in global defense deals and an initial reluctance to say they would build in Australia saw them slip behind DCNS and Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG.

Read the full story at Reuters

News Story: Japan steps up bid to win Australia submarine contract

Japanese MSDF Soryu class Submarine

Japan has assured Australia it will share its most secret stealth technology if it wins a contract to design and build Canberra's next generation of submarines, a report said Monday.

Three international bidders are competing for the project worth up to Aus$50 billion (US$36 billion) to replace Australia's current diesel and electric-powered Collins Class submarines which are set to be retired from about 2026.

The tender process is now closed with submissions received from DCNS of France, Germany's TKMS and the Japanese government.

Besides matching the range and endurance of the Collins Class, the new generation of subs are expected to offer superior sensor performance and stealth capabilities.

Japan's Deputy Defence Minister Kenji Wakamiya said Tokyo ordinarily only shared details of its Soryu class submarine with the United States, but Australia was also considered a deeply trusted ally.

"It is of major importance to us that we will be sharing this secret technology with Australia," he told The Australian newspaper in comments published Monday.

Wakamiya added that Tokyo's willingness to do this demonstrated the importance it placed on maintaining regional security.

Read the full story at DailyMail

Editorial: Has Germany Lost the Bid to Build Australia’s New Subs?

By Franz-Stefan Gady

A German bid is reportedly losing ground over technical concerns.

In the competitive bidding process for a $50 billion ($38.8 billion) contract to build Australia’s new submarine fleet in partnership with Australian industry, Germany appears to be losing over technical concerns, according to industry sources interviewed by Reuters.

“The German proposal is an enlarged version of a smaller existing submarine, and that technically is risky,” one source told Reuters. German defense contractor Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is offering Australia a scaled-up version of its 2,000-ton diesel-electric Type 214 submarine, equipped with lithium-ion battery technology. As I reported previously, TKMS is offering the 4,000-ton HDW class 216, specifically designed to meet Australia’s needs.

In February 2015, the Australian government asked Germany, France, and Japan to bid for the country’s largest defense procurement program (the so-called SEA-1000 acquisition project)—a contract to build up to 12 new submarines for the Australian Royal Navy, replacing the six Collins-class submarines currently in service.

The requirements outlined in the bid including a 4,000-ton displacement, a range and endurance similar to the Collins-class submarines, sensor performance and stealth abilities better than the Collins, and a combat system and heavyweight torpedo developed jointly by the U.S. and Australia as the preferred combat system and armament, makes an off-the-shelf solution not an option.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Think Tank: A new submarine class is rarely designed from scratch

Hans J. Ohff

When commentators argue that the government should determine the designer and builder of the Future Submarine Program (FSP) via a competitive Project Definition Study (PDS), they seem to forget—or don’t know—that the SEA 1114 PDS process (which led to the selection of Kockums to build the Collins class submarines) was less than perfect. At the time of submitting the proposals the design of the HDW and KAB submarines were less than 20% complete, with lump sum prices submitted on scant performance criteria. The government made a political decision on the data submitted and following assurances provided during contract negotiations, including the establishment of a domestic naval submarine industry.

In essence, the Competitive Evaluation Process (CEP) will be no less effective than the PDS tendering processes for the Collins class acquisition program. And the CEP will arguably deliver a better result for the government unless an enhanced PDS delivered a substantially completed design of the submarine or the Commonwealth could conflate the designs of the PDS contenders into its preferred outcome. These, however, are unlikely to materialise.

TKMS of Germany, DCNS of France and Mitsubishi-Kawasaki of Japan are accomplished submarine designers and builders. Each bidder would have made a persuasive case in their CEP response that they are committed to fulfilling the RAN’s unique operational requirements, that they’ll engage local industry extensively and that their submarine design and building concepts are safe and cost effective no matter where the future class will be built—in Europe, Japan or Australia. Thus, based on nuanced preferences the government’s CEP evaluation team can recommend any of the three contenders.

News Story: Submarine Bids Now in, Australian Panel Begins Evaluation

By Nigel Pittaway

MELBOURNE, Australia — Now that all three competitors have issued final proposals in Australia's AU$ 50 billion (US $36.44 billion) Future Submarine program, an expert advisory panel will begin its evaluations and issue findings next year to guide the government's selection.

Up to 12 large conventional submarines will be acquired under Project Sea 1000. The Australian government selected France’s DCNS, TKMS of Germany and the government of Japan to participate in a competitive evaluation process (CEP).

“Since the CEP began in February, all three participants have worked closely with [the Department of] Defence and they should be congratulated for the hard work and significant investment they have made to reach this point,” Australian Defence Minister Sen. Marise Payne said in a statement.

“Submarines are Defence’s most complex, sensitive and expensive capability, so it is important that evaluation process is fair and robust.”

Each of the three bidders is required to submit three strategies for construction of the Future Submarine, from full completion in their home shipyards; through a hybrid model where initial boats are built in the home yard and the remainder in Australia; and a complete build in an Australian shipyard.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japan submits bid for huge Australian submarine contract

Japan on Monday submitted its bid for Australia’s multi-billion dollar submarine contract, a deal that France and Germany are also desperate to win.

Australia has solicited bids for a project worth up to 50 billion Australian dollars ($36 billion) to replace its current diesel-electric Collins-class submarines, with a Monday deadline to submit final proposals.

A Defense Ministry official in Tokyo said Japan’s proposal includes plans to build the submarines in Australia, which is keen to secure more jobs in connection with the project.

The Abe administration substantially relaxed regulations on arms exports in April 2014. Winning the Australian sub deal would provide major impetus to Japan’s plans to export defense equipment to countries such as India and the Philippines.

Read the full story at Japan Times

AUS: Future Submarine program enters next phase

Evaluation of Australia’s Future Submarine program proposals will now commence with all three potential international partners submitting their proposals in full, Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne announced.

“The Government’s Competitive Evaluation Process remains on schedule with Defence receiving submissions from DCNS of France, TKMS of Germany, and the Government of Japan by the 30 November 2015 closing deadline,’’ Senator Payne said.

“Since the CEP began in February, all three participants have worked closely with Defence and they should be congratulated for the hard work and significant investment they have made to reach this point.”