There is an urgent need to resolve delays in the Type 26 Frigate building programme. Clearly, the MOD needs to ensure value for money – but increasing the flow of money into shipbuilding in the short term to support the economy is a real consideration. Bringing forward construction of Type 31 frigates in parallel with the Type 26 construction to enable a sustained increased level of shipbuilding would also be beneficial, and see an increase in surface escort numbers which can be sustained in the longer-term.
Save The Royal Navy Article
This article is angled towards a reader @GardinerWira who thought rightly Kiwis would want to know the cost of bringing the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) up to a adequate strength . I was delayed in writing this article by circumstances on my home front. On the positive side of things the article by John Dunbar proved to very timely and topical.
I am going to break the topic into 2 parts. Part 1 will covers some of the pitfalls the New Zealand Government and the RNZN would need to avoid. In Part 2 I will take a look at issues around crewing the new vessels and retaining personnel.
The reader will note how I am not offering precise figures/costings. A outlay of costings would have meet with difficulties due to the variables involved. Such variables include up front capital costs , ongoing operational costs , choice of vessels , cost overruns at the construction stage and so on. The reader can take the matters I raise and apply them to the RNZN of today even if they don't support my ideas.
Now I will turn attention to the pitfalls that can apply to buying naval vessels or even new acquisitions for the Army and Royal New Zealand Air Force. The New Zealand government's record in the area of defence acquisitions is lousy to say the least. Space doesn't permit me to go into detail around the debacle around Project Protector and Army LAV's . Suffice to say the public should question the competence of the current and future governments/defence bureaucracy to be entrusted with tax payer dollars and the future of the armed forces.
Clearly a return to basics involving acquiring the right kind of and volume of equipment is desperately needed. A suitable number of vessels that can meet operational requirements isn't a given. Nor is avoiding cost over runs at the construction/purchasing stage guaranteed. I am now going to turn the matter of avoiding cost over runs.
My intention isn't to pick on the Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers (hereafter AWD) I do want to highlight how a potentially good selection of design isn't the same as getting a vessels delivered on time and on budget. Essentially the Hobart Class AWD have been a classic case of mismanagement and a terrible Corporate/Business Corporate/Business model.
Casting a glance beyond Australia how the Royal Navy's Type 26 Frigate Program could said to be struck in the mud. Space and the need to stay topical means I won't go into the issues faced by the Type 26 Frigate Program. What I want to convey to the reader is how beyond Australia huge issues exist with Navies acquiring new vessels.
Essentially I would argue whether it be the replacement of the RNZN Anzac Class Frigates or undertaking a restructure of the navy the choice of ship builders shouldn't automatically follow on from the design choice. I believe old fashion saying of buyer beware applies to the situation.
The main pitfall that nobody is talking about is how New Zealand is solely reliant on Military Off the Shelf hardware. The failure to develop shipyards and strengthen the local defence industry over the last 2 decades is coming with a heavy price. A localised defence industry with a focus on Research and development would have place New Zealand well as global events take a trend for the worst.
The New Zealand Defence Force could have had access to lower cost high end military equipment that is interoperable with our allies/coalition partners. The same military equipment would have also found ready export markets around the world.
Questions hang around like the smell of seaweed drying out on a beach. For me at least one question is how the RNZN/Department of Defence could take a design like the Type 26 Frigate from the design table to operational service without any major hiccups?
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