Frontrunner bidder Japan offers to build Soryu vessels entirely at Australian shipyards in an effort to secure $20bn defence contract

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Japan has confirmed it is ready to build Australia’s submarines entirely at local shipyards, after comments by the ambassador in Canberra to the same effect.

The director general for acquisition reform at the defence ministry, Masaaki Ishikawa, said on Tuesday that Tokyo was willing to train hundreds of Australian engineers in Japan’s submarine-manufacturing hub of Kobe as well as in Australia as part of its offer for the contract. .

It is the first time an official directly involved in the bid has said Japan was willing to build the stealth submarines entirely in Australia. Canberra is expected to order between eight and 12 vessels.

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“Whatever option Australia chooses we are ready to provide the necessary technology transfers and skills,” Ishikawa said. “We will optimise the role of Australian industry.”

Last week the ambassador, Sumio Kasaka, said: “We will go along with whatever decision the Australian government makes.”

Japan had been the frontrunner to replace Australia’s ageing Collins-class submarines with a modified off-the-shelf version of its 4000-tonne Soryu-class vessel until Tony Abbott opened up the bidding in February under pressure from the opposition and some of his MPs.

While Japan sought to stress the capabilities of its submarines, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and the French shipbuilder DCNS said they would make a full build in Australia part of their offers.





Ishikawa said Japan would submit three options requested by Canberra: a full build in Australia; a hybrid option under which the first vessels would be built in Japan and the rest in Australia; a complete overseas build.

It was up to Canberra to assess the risk and cost of each option, he said.

The new industry minister, Christopher Pyne, said last week he was pleased the bidders were detecting the government’s preference to maximise the construction done in Australia.

An expert advisory panel is expected to deliver its recommendation on the bids to the government in November. The contract also includes a decades-long maintenance program.

Japan is offering a variant of its 4000-tonne diesel-electric Soryu submarine built by Mitsubishi and Kawasaki.



“We already have an ocean-going submarine of the right size that is operating today at sea,” Ishikawa said.

TKMS, which is proposing to scale up its 2000-tonne Type 214 class vessel, has said it would turn the naval shipyard in South Australia into a submarine construction and maintenance hub for Asia.

DCNS has said it would share for the first time its stealth technology with the Australian government and also plans a package of economic incentives.

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The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has a lot riding on the tender after lifting a decades-old ban on weapons exports in April last year as part of his more muscular security agenda.

Ishikawa and other Japanese government and industry officials who travelled to Adelaide last month to promote the Soryu submarines were stung by criticism over their unwillingness to commit to building all the boats in Australia.

That team, Ishikawa said, would deliver a clearer message next month in Sydney in a bid to regain lost ground.

There they plan a second presentation for potential suppliers and partners at the Pacific 2015 international maritime exposition, a biennial expo and conference that begins on 6 October. A third presentation will be held in Melbourne on 9 October.

As well as highlighting the technical merits of Tokyo’s bid, Ishikawa said the team would note Japan’s investment in Australia, point to past industrial collaboration and talk up the benefit of building security ties with a fellow US ally in Asia rather than buying vessels from distant Europe.