The Australian Government has confirmed plans to buy 12 new submarines despite having run into serious problems with its four Collins class boats (above) and a manning shortage.

The Australian Minister for Defence Stephen Smith, Minister for Finance and Deregulation Senator Penny Wong and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced Australia’s Future Submarine Systems Centre which will be based in Adelaide continuing the strong relationship that has been formed between South Australia and the Commonwealth in support of Australia’s maritime sector.

The Systems Centre will be the home of the future submarine programme. It will be formally established this year and over the next few years will expand to include hundreds of defence personnel from Navy, the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the Australian and international defence industry.

The Systems Centre is a similar facility to the one that was established for the Air Warfare Destroyer project. It will undertake a variety of tasks including evaluation of options, design work, programme management, engineering, logistics and production planning.

The Government is committed to acquiring 12 new submarines to be assembled in South Australia. This commitment will be reinforced as part of the 2013 Defence White Paper. The Future Submarine project will be the largest and most complex defence project ever undertaken. It will involve hundreds of companies and thousands of workers.