Great story about a Collins-class sub in an exercise that never happened

Navy News, a publication of the Australian Navy, has sunk its credibility.

According to The Australian, Navy News published a story about how great an Australian Collins class submarine did on an exercise with our allies.

"The free-play phase provided Ballarat and Parramatta with the chance to exercise their anti-submarine warfare capabilities against a Collins-class submarine recognised as the best diesel-electric boat in the world.

"During the live phase, Dechaineux stalked the Anzac-class frigates and the other seven warships in a tactical game of cat and mouse, while evading military aircraft such as Ballarat's embarked Seahawk from 816 Squadron."

The problem is, the Dechaineux was never there. It was broken; tied up to a dock in Singapore. It appears that the dysfunctional Collins-class submarine program is so lethal that it can perform its mission tied up to a dock. Many could be forgiven for thinking this is the main mission of the Collins-class; to be tied up to a dock.

"The Dechaineux remains stranded in Singapore, where personnel from the Australian Submarine Corporation and the Defence Materiel Organisation are trying to fix the problem."

But yeah, we need to double our pain and build 12 replacements at home; even if there isn't enough project management skill to do the job.