THE admiral in charge of planning for Australia's next generation of submarines and the chief defence scientist are studying an advanced new submarine in service with the Japanese navy.
Rear-Admiral
Rowan Moffitt, head of the Royal Australian Navy's Future Submarine Program,
and Dr Alexander Zelinsky, the Chief Defence Scientist, travel to Japan this
month to look at the Soryu-class submarines, which started service with the
Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force three years ago.
Access to
the Soryu technology was discussed during a visit to Australia last month by
the Japanese navy's chief, Admiral Masahiko Sugimoto. It was only in December
that Tokyo lifted its post-World War II embargo on defence exports.
The Soryu
Class submarine can be armed with UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. (image : shipbucket)
The
4200-tonne Soryu-class boats are the only new conventional submarines of the
size and capabilities set out in Canberra's 2009 defence white paper for 12 new
submarines to take over from the Collins-class subs from the late 2020s.
''Our
strategy with the Japanese is one of hope, because there are some very
attractive characteristics about the Japanese submarine,'' Rear-Admiral Moffitt
said.
Soryu Class submarine is an improved version
of the Oyashio Class submarine. (image : PIT)
As well as having a close alliance relationship with the United States similar to Australia's, Japan's navy operated in the same Asia-Pacific environment, which was reflected in its submarine design, he said.
''Their
submarine, by all accounts, and their design and the evolution of that design,
has by all accounts brought them to the point of having a very good
submarine,'' Rear-Admiral Moffitt said.
''However,
submarine technology tends to be crown-jewel stuff for nations, it tends to be
at the most extreme end of sensitivity that nations have about protecting their
intellectual property - especially if they have developed it themselves, as
Japan has, as the US has. They've invested a vast amount of money doing that.''
The
diesel-electric propulsion system provides a maximum speed of 20knot. (image : JMSDF)
Under a $214 million allocation in this year's budget, the RAN has stepped up work on selecting the new submarine design. Four options are: Adapting an existing ''military off the shelf'' or MOTS submarine, a large ''evolved MOTS'' design, an evolution of the Collins class, and a completely new Australian design.
Until the
Soryu became theoretically available, off-the-shelf submarines included only
German, French and Spanish designs of about 2000 tonnes.
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