The Entrenched Defence Bureaucracy (this spans over both major coalition parties...Labor-Greens and Liberals-Nationals) is still pushing the meme that Australia needs large subs.
It doesn't. At least, at this juncture.
Today, the PM is showing he and his staff are more dumb than usual on the Collins Submarine topic.
You can gauge the history of performance on the Entrenched Defence Bureaucracy to mismanage projects here. That is a hell of a resume of bad performance: on so many levels.
The sub issue is now, truly, one-hundred percent over jobs.
And nothing to do with the defense of the Nation.
The solutions for these problems, I think, are the following.
First, only submit federal budgets that spend within our means. Continued deficit spending only makes things worse.
Kill the bad idea of a large sub. For now.
If Australia wants to make subs at home one must only start projects that have a successful chance of being completed. That is: Project Management 101.
The military requirement should be for a small 40-crew or less, conventional submarine, with no air-independent-propulsion, that has 4 torpedo tubes and is very simple. Think of a modern version of that old Oberon sitting in Sydney.
In numbers, small submarines allow for war attrition. These subs will still be dangerous and in case of Operation:SHIRT FRONT performed by the Russian Navy recently, 24 or so small subs, with 8 on-station in our waters, would be something to bank on.
And if the production and and sustainment of these small, simple subs is a successful process, the skill on-hand, to build bigger, longer-range submarines could then be started. Here at home.
Crawl before you can walk.
Without that, any Collins submarine replacement "plan" currently in discussion, has a no chance of success.
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