Posted on 09/02/2022 5:08:49 AM PDT by FarCenter
In the latest blow to Australia’s ambitious plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, overstretched US and UK shipyards may not be able to supply Canberra with the boats within the decade as outlined in the three sides’ AUKUS agreement, according to reports in late August.
At a recent Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies seminar, US Navy Rear Admiral Scott Pappano was asked if the AUKUS arrangement to supply Australia with nuclear subs would burden or draw crucial resources away from the US’ own sub-building plans.
“If you are asking my opinion, if we were going to add additional submarine construction to our industrial base, that would be detrimental to us right now without significant investment to provide additional capacity, capability to do that,” said Pappano, emphasizing that the same capacity situation exists in the UK.
His statements contrast with earlier comments made by Australian opposition leader and former defense minister Peter Dutton this June saying that the US could provide the first two nuclear subs by 2030, without providing material evidence such a timeline was in place.
...
Pappano mentioned workforce issues as a drag factor, noting that securing skilled naval shipyard workers such as casters and molders is increasingly difficult as many of these laborers have shifted from manufacturing to services.
A 2017 study by RAND mentions declining levels of workforce experience in US shipyards, noting productivity drops when experienced workers are replaced with less-experienced ones.
The study also says aging US nuclear subs and increased workloads on the US carrier fleet have caused more work in fewer maintenance periods, resulting in less frequent availabilities for skilled workers and inefficiencies in project execution.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
In short, need more money because we don’t have the people who make submarines anymore.
Use the Astute design with perhaps U.S. electronics, and build them Australian shipyards. Quickest solution available
Maybe should have checked on delivery before telling France to get lost.
The U.S. has two shipyards and two classes of submarines under construction. There's a limit to what they can accomplish.
I guess building more shipyards and hiring more people would increase CO2 and harm transvestites.
And yet I think we do need increased capacity and more ship building. We should be replacing the older ships and boats in service.
Unless we want a smaller Navy, which may be where we are going.
And yet another ally makes the fatal mistake of trusting us.
Fund the new shipyards first and then worry about CO2 and transvestites.
China and its billions are a bigger ally to the US and UK governments, I guess. Sorry, Mates.
Hanging Fire:
Delay
Delay, as in The advertising campaign is hanging fire until they decide how much to spend on it. This expression originally referred to the 17th-century flintlock musket, where the priming powder ignited but often failed to explode the main charge, a result called hanging fire.
You know there has to be a gigantic government grant-funded project out there to test 3-D printing submarines...
Also see “flash in the pan”.
In short, need more money because we don’t have the people who make submarines anymore.
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The U.S. has two shipyards and two classes of submarines under construction. There’s a limit to what they can accomplish.
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Well, the shipyards could expand their build capabilities both physically and by bringing new young workers on to be trained. Our older shipyard workers will be retiring and it will be good to have younger workers who have developed needed skills and knowledge.
And why should they fund the multi-billion dollar cost?
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. New shipyards can't be more than, what, ten or twelve bucks (including the numerous environmental impact studies, buying the land, building and equipping the shipyard itself, plus costs of deconstruction and restoring the environment, or mechanical and environmental maintenance projected out to whenever they might have use for it again)?
They probably could get that done in a long weekend.
And manpower shouldn't be a prob. Just send a bus down to Home Depot every morning and pick up all the illegal Mexican alien skilled tradesmen with Top Secret [CodeWord] clearances they'll need to be full staff that day.
“ And why should they fund the multi-billion dollar cost?”
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They should NOT. Like all businesses, they could build it into the costs charged to the ship/submarine buyers.
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