An Australian submarine deal wit France is facing a 400 percent cost blowout, a leading critic has warned. The Australian government in 2016 awarded France's DCNS a 50 billion Australian dollar (36 billion US dollar) contract to build 12 submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.
The project has been plagued by problems and Robert Gottliebsen, a leading business analyst for The Australian newspaper, on Monday warned it was facing a significant cost blowout.
"I think we can say that the nation of Australia faces a 225 billion AUD (163 billion USD) plus bill for 12 submarines," he wrote. "And the first submarines will not be available for at least 14 years, but the Rear Admiral (Gregory Sammut) believes they will still be useful up until around 2080.
"Of course, the way technology is moving in the defence space, conceivably they could be outmoded before construction is finished in the late 2030s.""According to Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) we were looking to spend about 30 percent of our estimated defence capital on these 12 submarines."
DCNS beat German shipbuilder TKMS for the contract despite the German company offering a price of 20 billion AUD (14.5 billion USD). Rex Patrick, an Australian Senator who previously served as a Royal Australian Navy submariner, in January said that the program was "starting togo a little bit off the rails." "Rear Admiral Sammut is a highly respected and highly capable naval officer.
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