Posted on 05/27/2011 8:24:38 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Overdue and over budget: $8bn destroyer plan in crisis
EXCLUSIVE Cameron Stewart From: The Australian
BITTER infighting has erupted between government and industry over the nation's largest defence project, the $8 billion plan to build the navy's new air warfare destroyers, which is two years late and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.
The government was yesterday forced to admit publicly that the flagship project was badly behind schedule after it became aware The Australian had the story and was planning to publish it today.
Insiders say the plan to build three 6500-tonne destroyers is in crisis barely a year after construction of the ships' steel hulls began in Melbourne, Newcastle and Adelaide. They warn that the AWD project threatens to become the biggest defence industry bungle since the Collins Class submarine construction in the 1990s.
Unless rectified quickly, it could cruel the future of naval shipbuilding in Australia.
A series of engineering mistakes, poor project management and lack of naval shipbuilding expertise has delayed the construction of the first warship, HMAS Hobart. And it has sparked a heated internal dispute between the government's Defence Materiel Organisation and one of the AWD sub-contractors, BAE Systems, over who should be blamed for the debacle.
The Australian understands BAE has accused DMO chief Stephen Gumley of making exaggerated claims about BAE's culpability, and that relations between several key partners in the project have become badly strained.
BAE has accused the main AWD shipbuilder - the Australian Submarine Corporation - and the ship's Spanish designer, Navantia, of contributing to the mistakes by providing poor-quality drawings and information about the hull construction. The government has tried to conceal its problems with
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
China will be laughing.
They bought a destroyer designed by the Spanish???
But now everyone is pointing fingers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.