Japan Bids to Jointly Develop Submarines with Australia
Japan has entered a contest to win the right to conduct joint research on developing submarines with Australia, indicating a possible shift in the balance of power in the Pacific. Australia’s submarine plan focuses on replacing its current diesel-electric Collins-class submarines with up to 12 new ones and boosting its domestic economy through this $36 billion dollar project. Countries interested in this project had until Monday to submit their proposals.
Japan’s rivals include France, which has partnered with DCNS, and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The Japanese government has teamed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries to win exclusive access to Australia’s contract.
After its defeat in World War II, Japan pledged to refrain from exporting weapons to communists, nations subject to UN embargos, and nations involved in international conflicts. Only in 2014 did Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lift the self-restrained export bans in a move that China criticized as an attempt to remilitarize Japan. A Japanese contract victory would represent Japan’s first major opportunity for export of military weapons in decades.
Both prominent allies of the United States, Japan and Australia have refrained from making explicit security commitments to one another. The first Trilateral Strategic Dialogue was held among United States, Japan, and Australia in 2006, and the two signed the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation in 2007.
Australia’s submarine program has been in the works since 2014, when Japan quickly jumped onboard. Nevertheless, concerns in Canberra pressured then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott to invite other nations to submit bids. Labor unions and politicians also expressed disapproval because the original plan was set to develop submarines abroad rather than in Australia.
At that point, France and Germany expressed interest and offered to build the submarines in South Australian shipyards. With the promise of thousands of jobs, the contract emerged as a three-way contest.
A Japanese government official said he was “confident” that Japan would win the bid. Details of the plan have not been announced, but sources suspect that Japan’s proposal includes Soryu-diesel electric submarines and production to take place in Australia.
Australia’s Defense Minister David Johnston lauded Japan’s Soryu-class submarines in a conference last year. “The Japanese design is the nearest design that comes to what our requirements are,” he said. “There’s no other diesel electric sub of that size and dimension.”
Selecting Japan as the contract winner, however, might strain Australian relations with China.
“It’s not the fact that Australians and Japanese are building submarines that will grab Chinese attention. It’s the emerging partnership between Australia and Japan that the Chinese will be distressed about,” said Dr. Arthur Alexander, an expert on Japan at Georgetown University.
Submarines are one of the world’s most classified military technologies and sharing that signifies that the nations are willing to bring relations to a new level.
China could perceive a Japanese-Australian coalition in submarine development as a threat to its operations in the South China Sea, which both nations oppose. Rumors of a potential economic retaliation have surfaced, which are not inconsequential as China is Australia’s largest trading partner.