|
Collins Class Subs to be Replaced in 35 Billion Spending Programme |
|
|
|
Wednesday, 25 February 2009 |
 Australia is set to spend tens of billions of dollars on a new submarine fleet and the people to crew them, a commitment likely to be the key strategic element in the upcoming defence white paper.
News of the project has been leaked extensively over the past week, with suggestions the cost to Australian taxpayers could reach $35 billion.
The price tag will buy enough submarines to replace the bug-ridden Collins Class submarines when they are retired in 2025.
Last year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he wanted the nation's sea lines of trade and communications to be impenetrable.
"We must be in a position in the future to defend Australia's own sea lines of communication," Mr Rudd said.
"That means having sufficient naval capability to do it."
And despite the fiscal belt-tightening stemming from the global economic crisis, the government appears committed to keeping its promise to increase the defence budget.
There has also been plenty of agreement in defence thinktank circles that Australia needs to invest heavily in submarines.
"To be more effective in combat operations in the future, Australia's
force structure should shift ... away from major surface vessels as the
major naval capability and towards a larger fleet of submarines," the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute said.
Confirmation of the submarine project will be in the defence white paper due this year.
Alongside the white paper will be a host of lesser reviews looking at issues across defence.
All of this comes after Mr Rudd's first national security statement, delivered in December last year. |
