Posted on 04/15/2014 11:35:37 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
SWEDISH defence giant Saab is making a bold, secret play for a slice of Australia’s $30 billion future submarine project.
As Federal Government placed all options for the navy’s future submarine back on the table this week, News Corp Australia can reveal that Saab and the Swedish Government have been engaged in secret talks with the Defence Department about the design of the new boats.
A Swedish delegation travelled to Canberra in March for first round talks.
Sweden has along history in submarines but it moved away from the business about 15 years ago when its shipbuilder Kockums — the company that designed the Collins Class submarine — was sold to German company Thyssen Krupp MS (TKMS).
The Swedish Government last month cancelled a deal with Kockums to buy its future submarine and since then it has contracted Saab to examine options for the nation’s sub-surface fleet.
One option is buying the submarine builder back from TKMS and possibly expanding operations in Australia.
Saab has hired almost 100 submarine experts from Kockums during the past month and its spokesman Anders Carp hinted that the hi-tech defence company could make a bid for Adelaide based submarine maker ASC if an when it came up for sale.
“We are impressed with the company,” Mr Carp said.
When asked if Saab might buy the company and build the Swedish submarines in Adelaide he did not rule it out and he added that 80 per cent of the company’s popular Gripen fighter jet was built elsewhere.
He said discussions between Saab and Australia had involved the design of the vessel and not the combat management systems. Australia favours an American combat system.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I don’t get why they would give their business to a neutral country.
BTW, the USA is not on that list.
We do not build any non-nuclear power submarines?
Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan, Sweden?, Russia?, China?, India? France? That's off the top of my head. US builds only nuclear.
The submarine exporting nations are Germany, Russia and France.
Sweden tried it once but the Collins-class is still a financial disaster. Price is about twice as high as a European design and maintenance costs are exploding.
Spain tries to build the S-80. India is importing Russian submarines. Just Japan and China build indigenous submarines.
See post 7.
Thank you.
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