Australia in talks to buy Japanese submarines to upgrade fleet | News.com.au
Oh joy what is the first thing the government does of hearing that ASC has turned things around and proven themselves capable of delivering, they threaten to buy MOTS subs from Japan if ASC doesn't turn things around and prove themselves.
The jury is in, it is quite clear that the Australian government has no interest in maintaining any traditional manufacturing, heavy engineering, or ship building in country, let alone any high tech defence capability. Within a decade you will have to be a farmer, a miner or in financial services to earn a decent income, with everyone else having to work in service industries or be unemployed.
I have no issue with sharing technology and incorporating the best available systems into a suitable new or evolved design for the RAN. What I am against is buying something off the shelf i.e. will be outdated by the time the RAN examples enter service and then relying on them to do a job they were not designed to do for the next 30 years.
It is far better, I believe, to do what Japan, and the US for that mater, have done and build submarines continuously at a sustainable rate. Learn from the boats in service to build better boats to replace them. One new submarine every two years, a new evolution / batch / flight every six eight or ten years continually remaining ahead of the curve.
Instead of building or buying one too small batch in as short as period as possible and then spending the next decade bitching that they are not good enough we should aim to continually build and continually improve what we build, just like all the nations we see as being better at building things than us do.
Don't give up, and buy stuff off them, emulate them instead. Its not what they make its how they do it and how they get there.
The Soryu class are better (in some ways but not others) than the Collins because they are an evolution of an evolution of a design that was a contemporary of the Collins. Had the Collins been subject to a continuous slow rate build with three major design evolutions over a 25 year period our current production submarines would be superior to the Soryu. This is because the first major improvement to the next generation would have been improved propulsion and possibly AIP and hull for plus an interim improved combat system. The next would have been the all new combat system and torpedos plus further improvements to the batteries and propulsion etc.
The problem with Australia is our politicians lack vision and commitment and would rather destroy a strategic capability than risk the other side getting credit for a job well done. Its not just defence we see this vandalism its every where, it doesn't matter how important, necessary or valuable something is, if it is seen to have to possibility of making the other side look good it will be attacked and disrupted in anyway possible. We waste so much time and money in this country because of partisan politics and the inability of the major parties to put the nation and the people ahead of their political point scoring. Our elections aren't about who will lead and build the country they are about what we are prepared to sacrifice in exchange for what we hope to keep.
I feel more and more the next election will be about whether Australia wants to ever be able to build or make, or build anything significant in this country again.
