Germany Out of Australian Submarine Tender
As a bid from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) loses ground over technical concerns, the competition for a A$50 billion ($34.55 billion) contract to build Australia’s next submarine fleet is narrowing to a race between Japan and France, reports Reuters.
Some sources say Japan may be closer to grabbing the submarine fleet. Another bidder for the Australian submarine fleet competition is France.
Australia has said it wants a boat in the 4,000-ton class.
TKMS is proposing to scale up its 2,000-ton Type 214 class vessel, while Japan is offering a variant of its 4,000-ton Soryu boats made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS has proposed a diesel-electric version of its 5,000-ton Barracuda nuclear-powered submarine.
Australia is expected to decide the winner within the next six months, ahead of a national election in which the deal and the jobs it will create is expected to be a key issue for the conservative government.