Push for Adelaide to secure a fourth $2 billion air warfare destroyer

Adelaide is in line to secure a fourth $2 billion air warfare destroyer because the Federal Government wants a major shipbuilding project in its defence program.

The project will be included in next year's Defence White Paper.

The Government wants to help bridge the national skills gap and a fourth air warfare destroyer is the likely choice.

Three of the hi-tech destroyers are being assembled by ASC at Osborne, with the work due to end by 2019, which is several years before the next generation submarine project is due to begin at the shipyard.

According to government sources an extra destroyer would provide enough work for ASC at Osborne and several other yards, including BAE Systems in Melbourne and Forgacs in Newcastle, to maintain skills until the submarine build begins.

The destroyer project is valued at $8 billion and is a major technological step forward for Australia.

The ships are equipped with the most advanced radars and a modern missile and fire control system.

The government plan could also include an acceleration of the $30 billion new submarine project so that the design and construction work can begin before the original 2025 start date.

This would provide the Osborne yard and Adelaide with a strong pool of skilled workers for the next 30 years.

In the past, vital national skills have been lost and then rehired at great cost because of gaps between major defence projects. Further funding flexibility is being created by delays to the $16 billion Joint Strike Fighter project that could free up hundreds of millions for another warship.

Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare told an industry conference in Canberra yesterday that the nation could not afford to lose the skills acquired during the destroyer and amphibious ships build.

According to previous schedules there was a gap of several years between the end of the destroyers and the start of the submarines that will be assembled in Adelaide.

"We need to build a bridge across this valley of death," Mr Clare said. "We can't let this happen again, not in preparation for a project as large and complicated as the future submarine project."

The Government has already slowed down the destroyer project to buy itself and industry an extra year, but another major ship build is required to prevent another skills debacle between 2019 and 2025.

An extra air warfare destroyer or a third amphibious ship would fit the bill.

Industry experts said the long-term future of Australian shipbuilding was bright, with up to 48 new platforms including submarines, frigates, offshore patrol vessels and patrol boats on the drawing board.

They will be built around the country, including Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.

"The next white paper will be realistic and affordable and provide significant incentives to invest," one source said.

The 12 new submarines will be built under a rolling schedule, with three or four coming out at a time over a total period of 25 years or more.

Senior officials, including chief defence scientist Dr Alexander Zelinsky and head of the navy's new submarine program Rear Admiral Rowan Moffitt have been to Japan recently to discuss technology transfers, including a revolutionary Japanese propulsion system and new generation lithium batteries.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith this week revealed that talks were well advanced on an agreement regarding the submarine propulsion system.