Japan Guns for World's Biggest Defense Deal: Aussie Subs

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Isabel Reynolds and Jason Scott, Japan Guns for World's Biggest Defense Deal: Aussie Subs. Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Nov 18, 2015 (blog).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar ... arines-to-australia

Quote:

“ 'We are basically prepared to share all our technology,' Masaki Ishikawa, a Defense Ministry official working on Japan’s bid, said in an interview Friday. 'Until now, we had never even shown our submarine technology to our ally, the US.'

"With Australia and the US set to jointly develop a combat system to be installed in the new submarines, a Japanese deal could tighten ties between the three countries’ armed forces, Ishikawa said.

"The A$50 billion [today A$1 = $0.72] contract would be to build the ['about 12': Reuters, June 4, 2015] subs and service them over their decades-long lifetime. * * * Japan has deployed its conventionally powered, 4,000-ton Sōryū 蒼龍 class subs -- the largest of their type in the world -- since 2009. The latest models cost about 60 billion yen ($487 million).

"Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, has said its marine unit could build 12 submarines for Australia for about A$20 billion. * * * [Thyssenkrupp] Chief Executive Officer Heinrich Hiesinger told reporters on Thursday in Essen[, Germany]. He added his company 'sold most conventional submarines by far in the last decades' globally, including 50 built abroad [manufactured outside Germany].