Early in his speech, Thorne reflected on his initial briefings on the AWD program with Don Winter: Winter was \u2018full of marvel and disbelief: marveling at what had been achieved in a short time, disbelief that anyone would embark on such a high-risk journey from such a low base\u2019.<\/p>\n
According to Thorne, the primary issue that the AWD program faces today is one of \u2018cost overrun caused by lower than expected shipbuilding productivity\u2019. Shipbuilding for the AWD program currently runs at up to 170 man-hours per compensated gross tonne\u2014an unpleasant thought, considering the Danes\u2019 reportedly achieve 15 man-hours per compensated gross tonne. Rather than laying the blame on worker competence or work ethics, Thorne believed the problem to be found in an atrophy of shipbuilding capabilities by the time that the AWD program commenced. It seems that \u2018engineers and trade supervisors had forgotten how to build ships to the required standards\u2019, he contended.<\/p>\n
Admitting the program has a problem is the first step. Thorne suggested that Australia can\u2019t afford a \u2018multi-billion dollar national shipbuilding industry founded on the mantra \u201cwe are not as bad as we could have been\u201d\u2019.<\/p>\n
He also argued that the parties involved in the AWD project did not represent a pure alliance model. Ultimately, the divergent cultures of government business enterprises like ASC and publicly listed multinationals like Raytheon will result in tensions. When looking to future projects like SEA 5000, Thorne argues that:<\/p>\n
\u2018The complexity around implementing Alliances, and choosing Alliance-compatible industry partners will militate against use of alliances in future major shipbuilding endeavors. You are unlikely to see any alliances in the Future of Australian shipbuilding as a result.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
To conclude, Thorne stated that despite the AWD program achieving a lot in a short period of time\u2014especially from a workforce and industry that had not built ships \u2018in a long time\u2019\u2014in the future, it\u2019ll be important for Australia to \u2018exploit the expertise of international ship designers and builders in leading and controlling future shipbuilding programs\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The second day of ASPI\u2019s Future Surface Fleet conference has so far produced some forthright observations about the state of Australia\u2019s naval shipbuilding industry, including the troubled AWD project. The conference\u2019s final day coincides with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":19471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[113,17,112,1157,579],"class_list":["post-19470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-air-warfare-destroyer","tag-australia","tag-defence-materiel-organisation","tag-future-surface-fleet","tag-shipbuilding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
DMO and the future of Australian shipbuilding | The Strategist<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n