Katherine Ziesing | Canberra

Speaking at the 8th biennial Submarine Institute of Australia (SIA) conference this week, Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett was proud to highlight the successes of the Collins class enterprise over the last two years as “availability is a stepping stone to capability” he told the 200 plus delegates.

With four Collins class submarines currently at sea serving as the link between the current capability and that offered by the Future Submarine in the 2030s, the conference had a focus on transition plans, applying lessons learned from the Oberon to Collins journey and what needs to happen in the coming years to avoid a capability gap.

“Operating and maintaining two classes of submarines between transition is a challenge that we need to respond to with innovation on numerous fronts,” VADM Barrett said.

“Incoming SIA president Mark Sander looked at the lessons learned from transitioning from the Oberon to Collins class.”

This was echoed by CASG’s general manager of submarines Steve Johnson, who confirmed that he there will be increased mobility between Collins class and Future Submarine offices as the programs progress with industry support.

“The path of the Future submarines starts with Collins,” he said, acknowledging that the workforce in uniform, APS, and industry will need to grow to meet the challenges ahead.

Director General of Submarines Commodore Peter Scott had good news for the submarine community, confirming that the RAN submarine arm had been growing strongly for the last three years, retention rates are at an all time high, and they are on track to keep the trend moving upwards.

Incoming SIA president Mark Sander looked at the lessons learned from transitioning from the Oberon to Collins class and what lessons can be applied to the Future Submarine transition program; for instance parallel platforms does not mean parallel workforces and approaches. Collins will remain a potent capability well into the 2030s as the Future Submarine is introduced. And a disposal program for the class needs to be well thought out, unlike with the Oberons where HMAS Otama still languishes in limbo.

Perhaps one of the more interesting highlights was John Coles providing a timeline of his work with the submarine enterprise, and his numerous reviews over the past few years. The troubles with Collins sustainment were well documented and the turnaround over the last two years in terms of cost, availability and relationships is a great example of what can be done when all parties come to the table with improvement in the forefront of their minds.

Note: ADM Editor Katherine Ziesing was elected to the SIA Committee at the annual general meeting this week.