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CANBERRA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A 28-billion-U.S.-dollar Australian warship project could be delayed for two years if local companies are handed the contract, a government minister has warned.
The Future Frigates project will see nine new anti-submarine warfare frigates designed and built to replace Australia's existing Anzac frigate fleet.
The Australian bid to build the ships is being led by South Australia's ASC and Western Australia's Austal but Spain's Navantina, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Fincantieri have also been shortlisted for the project.
Despite an initial promise that the ships would be built in Australia, the Defence Department has convinced the government that the Australian-built clause should be "optional" rather than "mandated."
Christopher Pyne, Australia's defence industry minister, said: "Advice from the Department of Defence is that changing the request for tender to mandate a particular shipbuilder would result in a delay of at least two years in the Future Frigates program."
Read the full story at Xinhua
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PacificSentinel: I think people need to remember three things, first of all the project was moved forward by two or three years in the first place, so a two year delay would put it back on the original time table, the second thing is the reason it was moved forward in the first place, which was to build a local shipbuilding industry, so sending the construction overseas defeats the original purpose anyway, the third thing is that the ANZAC class Frigates have just finished an upgrade that should see them more than capable of lasting for an additional 2 years.