Subs Are Still Not Shipshape As Project Wallows In Sea Of Red Ink

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday July 2, 1999

By MARK METHERELL and AMANDA VAUGHAN

The history of the Collins class submarines began in 1987, when the then Defence minister, Mr Beazley, awarded the Australian Submarine Corporation the contract to build six subs over 20 years. The corporation's major partner was the Swedish shipbuilder, Kockums.

Early signs that all might not be right in the project surfaced in the early 1990s. The Australian National Audit Office in December 1992 found that $500 million in cost increases in the subs project were excessive.

That report was rejected as a fabrication by the Navy official responsible for the project and in August the following year, the first sub of the line, HMAS Collins, was launched, reportedly on time and on budget.

The report released yesterday, however, said that in August 1991, because of "slippage" in the combat system timetable, the contract was amended to provide a two-stage delivery, allowing submarine "platform" trials to proceed before the combat system became available.

The report also said that in September 1993 the corporation notified Rockwell of a default in the contract - the non-delivery of the combat system - but were not allowed by the Defence Department to take legal action. Instead, a further change from a two-stage to multiple-stage arrangement was allowed, adding to the complexity.

In July 1996 HMAS Collins was "provisionally accepted into service" by the Navy to allow trials to continue, but the combat system was still not ready.

In early 1997 trials indicated several combat shortcomings. But by early 1998 it was recognised that sufficient progress was not being made and the decommissioning of the last of the old Oberon-class submarines was held over.

In October 1998, the Deputy Chief of the Navy, Rear-Admiral Chris Oxenbould, admitted United States advice had been sought to rectify faulty software.

By January this year, the Defence Department was seeking an extra $50 million to fix the computer systems.

The project's planning manager, Commander Andy Millar, conceded "we're not going to get the totally integrated system that we asked for and that we thought we could achieve".

The Defence Minister, Mr Moore, announced the outside review in March. He said he was not convinced by a RAN report last October on the progress of the project.