page_title: Attack-class submarine
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Attack-class submarine / Background
caption_attribution_description: Australian submarine HMAS Rankin (Hull 6) and U.S. Navy attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) prepare to join a multinational formation with other ships July 25, 2006, to commemorate the last day of exercise Rim of the Pacific 2006. Conducted in the waters off Hawaii, RIMPAC brings together military forces from Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
context_page_description: The Attack-class submarine is a future class of submarines for the Royal Australian Navy based on the Shortfin Barracuda proposal by French shipbuilder Naval Group to replace the Collins-class submarines. The class will enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending into the late 2040s to 2050. The Program is estimated to cost $50 billion and will be the largest, and most complex, defence acquisition project in Australian history.
  The Program to replace the Collins class began in 2007 with the commencement of the Defence Department acquisition project SEA 1000. Australia's unique operating environment and rejection of nuclear marine propulsion had previously driven it to operate in the Collins class the world's largest diesel-electric submarines, capable of transiting the long distances from HMAS Stirling to their deployment areas.
  In the early phases of the replacement project, four design options were identified: purchase a Military-Off-The-Shelf design, modify a MOTS design for Australian conditions, design an evolution of the Collins-class, or create a new design.
context_section_description: Australian diesel-electric submarines operate in a wide range of geographic and oceanographic conditions, from the cold Southern Ocean to the tropics of the Coral, Arafura, and Timor Seas – requiring the submarines to handle significant variances in temperature, salinity, density, and climate. Australian submarines provide a deterrent towards military aggression against Australia, by patrolling the waters of Australia and nearby nations, and in addition, gather intelligence through the interception of electronic communications by foreign nations, and assist in the deployment and retrieval of special forces operatives. Because RAN submarines operate from HMAS Stirling, and because some of Australia's strategic interests are located as far afield as the Persian Gulf and the North Pacific, Australian submarines have to transit long distances to reach some of their potential patrol areas. This requirement for range and endurance resulted in the 1980s Collins-class design incorporating a large fuel load, large engines and sufficient batteries to transit these long distances, although technological improvements since then have enabled smaller diesel-electric submarines such as the German Type 214 submarine and Dutch Walrus-class submarine to achieve similar range and endurance as the Collins-class. It has also been noted that the transit distances Australian submarines travel could be reduced by operating the submarines from HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, rather than HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.
  The Collins class were the first diesel-electric submarines specifically designed for Australian conditions of long transit distances and diverse sea states, and thus represent an 'orphan' design with no evolved design to replace them. The submarines were enlarged and heavily modified versions of Swedish shipbuilder Kockums' Västergötland class. Built during the 1990s and 2000s, the Collins-class submarines have a predicted operational life of around 30 years, with the lead boat HMAS Collins due to be decommissioned around 2025.
caption: The Collins-class submarine HMAS Rankin. The SEA 1000 project will replace the six Collins-class boats.
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