Australia cancels plan to fit Collins-class submarines with Tomahawk cruise missiles

 

A Tomahawk missile launched from a US subamrine. Photo c/o US DoD.

The Australian Government will not be pushing through with plans to arm its ageing Collins-class attack submarines with American-made Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

This was after advice from both the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) and the US Government stating it is not value for money to modify the submarines to allow the equipping and firing of the Tomahawk cruise missiles from its torpedo tubes.

It was found that not only is this proposed solution costly, but it will also take time to complete and would not give the Royal Australian Navy the capabilities it need until new nuclear-powered attack submarines become online in the early 2030s.

The US Government also confirmed that Raytheon, which manufactures the Tomahawk missile, already shut down production of torpedo-fired variants of the missile, with no plans to reopen the production line.

The plan to arm the Collins-class submarines with Tomahawk missiles were originally part of the plan to extend the service life of the Collins-class submarines by another 10 years through a Life of Type Extension (LOTE) program, which is scheduled to start in 2026.

Despite this setback, the Royal Australian Navy will still have the capability to fire Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, which will be fitted on its Hobart-class destroyers, while there are feasibility studies ongoing proposing to have the upcoming Hunter-class frigates fitted with them as well.

[1] Australian Financial Review

[2] The Australian