Uniformed and civilian submarine maintenance experts from Australia, the U.K and U.S. reported to Pearl Harbor this week to start learning what maintenance skills will be required to establish the allied rotational submarine force in Australia by 2027.
Last month, Vice Adm. Bill Galinis, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, named Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) as the naval supervising authority
and lead maintenance activity for the future Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-W) (Defense Daily, Aug 4).
SRF-W is expected to be established as soon as 2027, with a rotational presence of up to four Virginia-class submarines and one British Astute-class attack submarine at the Australian HMAS Stirling naval base. This is part of Phase One of the AUKUS agreement among the three countries that aims to eventually have Australia build and field its own nuclear-powered attack submarines.
Pearl Harbor will help lead training Australian military and civilian personnel to perform intermediate-level maintenance on SSN submarines as the naval supervising authority and lead maintenance activity.
The U.S. Navy said this first set of subject matter experts make up the Advance Verification Team (AVT) that will work with shipyard personnel “to gain a full understanding of the maintenance and industrial skills required to establish Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-W) in Australia as early as 2027.”
The service also said at the start of SRF-W a combined U.S.-Australian team will perform maintenance on the U.S. boats. However, “over time, as Australia grows its workforce and expertise, the U.S. will reduce its presence in Australia. The AVT is working to build a detailed understanding of the types of specialized skills and trades required to establish the SRF-W repair workforce.”
“With an informed and specific plan, we will control costs by ensuring we send the right people, to the right places, to get the right training, at the right time to meet our requirements,” Australian Submarine Agency’s Head of Submarine Capability Rear Adm. Matthew Buckley said in a statement.
U.S. Navy AUKUS Integration and Acquisition Program Manager Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck added that each phase of AUKUS builds on the last one and SRF-W “is the foundation upon which the Australian maintenance, sustainment and new construction workforce is built.”
The AVT is looking to spend several weeks determining what skill sets and personnel numbers are needed to perform intermediate-level maintenance at SRF-W. Next, they will next create an embedment plan to help Australian personnel train within the four U.S. public naval shipyards.
AVT will return to Australia after finishing its work at Pearl Harbor and then tour U.K. shipyards to refine its plan.
Rear Adm. Chris Shepherd, the Royal Navy’s Defence Nuclear Organisation AUKUS Director and Senior Responsible Owner for the Replacement Nuclear Submarine Programme, said the British side will help the team understand how to maintain and modernize a smaller amount of submarines than the U.S. Both the British and Australian submarine plans consist of many fewer boats than the U.S.
Given the projected size of the RAN SSN force, Australia will not require facilities akin to the United States Naval Shipyards, but instead infrastructure comparable to those present in the U.K. This experience will be enormously beneficial for both the AVT and our personnel, as we look to strengthen our mutual knowledge, and ongoing partnership,” Shepherd said.