The use of unmanned vehicles on land, sea and in the air is on the increase with defence forces around the world and although aerial vehicles tend to capture the spotlight, unmanned platforms are displaying huge potential in the other two domains.

I wouldn’t normally write something like this for ADM but I thought the experience had to be shared. I was lucky enough to spend 24 hours on board HMAS Sheean with a shattered crew who had just finished their return to service trials.

An enhanced support regime and improved teamwork are allowing the RAN’s 14-strong fleet of Armidale-class patrol boats to again meet designated availability requirements notwithstanding a punishing operational tempo and continuing problems with cracking of their aluminium hulls and superstructures.

Australia’s four operational Collins-class submarines are set to gain a welcome boost in capability over the next couple of months, with the widely anticipated service release of the upgraded Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System Heavy Weight Torpedo.

The company will brief Australian Defence officials on the US Navy Knifefish program and consider ways to offer it to the RAN (should US export clearance be made available at some point in the future) within the framework of Sea 1778 Phase 1, the RANs Deployable MCM – Organic Mine Countermeasures project.

Should this country eventually decide that the design of the UK’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship would most closely satisfy the requirements of the Sea 5000 future frigate program, then its introduction into RAN service would almost certainly be based on the local build of an ASW version, and Australianised in terms of combat systems, sensors, weapons and habitability. It must also have long legs and be compatible for operations with the US Pacific Fleet.

Recognising the challenges ahead in managing the transition from the Collins class to the Sea 1000 future submarine, Sean Williams, Head of Engineering Strategy for Babcock Pty Ltd, looks at the approach being taken in the UK where similar challenges are being addressed.

In bustling facilities some 650km apart, the eventual shapes of the RAN ’s first Hobart class air warfare destroyer (AWD) and its first Canberra class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) are becoming increasingly recognisable.

The UK’s Astute class submarines have had their well publicised issues for both technology and schedule, not unlike the Collins class. And like the Collins class, there is a replacement already on the drawing board.

The opaque process by which information is being gathered and analysed to inform government on the broad options for Australia’s Future Submarine program is moving into areas of greater detail, boosted in part by the $214 million allocated to Sea 1000 in the May budget.

In May, Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced a range of detailed scoping studies in support of the Future Submarine program. The announcement flagged the spending of $214 million on detailed analysis to better inform the Government on the design of the new boats.

Many of the current missions of Australia’s submarine fleet are classified. But by looking at the successes of past fleets in Australia, their future importance cannot be underestimated.

In terms of tonnage, there is a lot of shipbuilding on the Australian horizon over the coming decade. But it’s not a smooth path to delivery. There are, as always, peaks and troughs between programs. With this in mind, ADM Editor Katherine Ziesing spoke to three shipbuilders to see how they are dealing with their workforces and planning their business.

When the Collins submarines work, they are a world-class capability. The issue has always been getting the reliability issue sorted on a platform that was not built with sustainment in mind. The new In Service Support Contract (ISSC) is aiming to change that.

In what appears to be something of a ‘first article’ trial, the two periscopes for one Collins submarine are being updated from analogue to digital systems.

The ADF’s torpedo inventory is growing, with two new lightweight torpedoes, together with Mk-46s and various Mk-48 heavyweights, ADCAP and otherwise, all in their various warshot, ASROC, dummy, training and high altitude guises. Enough, one suspects, to make even a Costco shelf-stacker blink.