Collins submarines have reached their performance targets

The recent article in The Australian "Two subs out of action for six years" (24/6) suggests that ASC has missed deadlines for the maintenance of HMAS Collins and the Collins sustainment program in general. This is incorrect. 

 

ASC is working with our submarine enterprise partners, the navy, the Defence Material Organisation and the Finance Department to achieve international benchmarks for fleet availability and reliability as identified by British specialist John Coles. We are safely doing this by driving productivity initiatives in our production, engineering, planning and supply chain capability.

This year we have reached our performance targets. We have proven that high availability can be generated from the Collins class.

Mathematically, it is plain that availability for a class of six submarines will be maximised by moving to a 10-year operating and two-year deep maintenance cycle. HMAS Collins is a core part of that plan.

ASC welcomes scrutiny of the public and the media into our performance. We are proud to lead advanced manufacturing in the naval industry and the defence of our country.

Steve Ludlum, chief executive, ASC, Adelaide, SA

ROBERT Bond's letter (25/6) on our future submarines made interesting reading and reinforces the need for our politicians to consider all options available. It is pointless to expect them to consider nuclear power because for some reason the N-word is a step too far. But they should look at the German Type-212 submarine operating with the German and Italian navies. Unlike the Collins boats, the Type-212 can stay submerged for two weeks and cover 1500 nautical miles. Its long range is ideal for Australia.

To design and build a new super-Collins from scratch without considering this technology is pure folly and a guaranteed waste of our money.