Australia to upgrade Collins class as crisis brews

15th June 2021 - 09:46 GMT | by Gordon Arthur, Tim Fish in Christchurch & Auckland

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Australia is being forced into a life-of-type extension programme for all six of its Collins-class submarines. (RAN)

Belatedly, Australia has reacted to the need to upgrade existing submarines as arrival of the Attack class recedes into the future.

Australia will invest up to A$6 billion ($4.6 billion) in a life-of-type extension for its fleet of six Collins-class submarines, as confidence in the troubled Attack-class submarine programme perceptibly wavers.

There is definitely a crisis of confidence in the Attack-class programme, including by Australian industry. For a long time, the Department of Defence’s backup plan has simply been to make Plan A work. However, that is changing and efforts are being put in place to hedge bets.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton told The Australian newspaper on 10 June: ‘There is no doubt in my ...