Some here must know we had our 2 new very large amphibious assault ships, Canberra & Adelaide built in Spain, then fitted out here. This like the submarines, despite the fact that the yanks would have provided us with cheap, suitable & proven vessels more quickly.

So I wonder how many would also know that these ships are both limping back to Sydney one from Townsville & one from Perth, followed by attendant large tugs, as there is a fair chance they will not make it on their own power. Yes they can get further away from home port before they break than our current subs, but not much, but we may have to tow them home.

So bad are the electrical problems with these new ships, that they are trying to destroy themselves. Their propellers & the hulls are being eaten away by stray electrical current. Perhaps having bought these defective Spanish things, we could now buy some large American built tugs, to tow them around.

Firstly we have to get the damn politicians the hell out of the decisions on what to buy & where, then we need to get the seaman officers the hell out of it too.

They probably knew what they needed, in the days of sailing ships, but today's ships are mechanical contrivances. It is engineers that understand how these things work, & what is required. Our navy does not have a senior engineering qualified officer. It is run by seaman with arts degrees, just like the public service, & we all know how well that works.

I wonder why the fact that this failure in this huge investment is not all over the media. Guess they are too busy with global warming & same sex marriage to notice

Nothing wrong with being old fashion.

First work out exactly what you want something you are buying to do.

Second look around for what is available to do the job.

Third check the reliability of your choice.

Fourth buy it.

How simple is that, add politicians and others to the system ='s disaster over and over again.

Just look at the trillion dollar F35.

Another waste by the warmongers,assult ships. Who will we be assulting next time? The good folk of New Caledonia. If these ships were to sink without trace, not that I wish any harm to those on board, I would be pleased no end.

'Defence' in Australia is a sick joke. Crappy Collins class submarines -most of them in dry dock most of the time. Rubbish from France to arrive in 50 years (nothing to do with defence, but all about keeping the idiot Pyne in parliament- plus the fact the they are a French design: the French can't keep a secret, and are the leading lights in the replacement of Europe with Eurabia.

Our one and only reliable ally is America. They make good armaments, and that is where we should be getting ours from.

Oh god Paul, you really are sick. We need defence, probably more than most countries, with our mineral wealth, but we need stuff that works. With a large enough quality defence force, you will never have to use it. No one has invaded the US since the Alamo

In a country where many of the road & rail bridges could not support one of our tanks, such ships would be the only reasonable way of getting our army's equipment to the sight of an invasion.

Our old amphibious assault ships have indeed been to New Caledonia, along with Fiji, & Indonesia, where their landing capacity was very helpful in the humanitarian missions after cyclones or Tsunami.

Even if they never actually defend us, they are a real requirement for emergency relief after one of our regular cyclones, & those of our neighbours.

After our last big one it was 72 hours before any relief got through to a couple of our coastal villages near Cardwell. This type of ship with their 20 knot tank landing craft & their helicopters could have been there in hours, but they are no use when broken down.

One of the old ones was also very useful as a headquarters & base in Bougainville, when we were running the peacekeeping mission that finally brought an end to the civil war there.

Okay Hassy, why are these leftovers from the 'Spanish Amada' purchased with taxpayer billions called attack ships. Who are we going to be attacking? I am all for civil defence but we don't need this kind of expensive crap to undertake civil defence. Simply another case of the war boys getting their (big) toys! Our military is all about pandering to inflated egos.