‘The acquisition strategy for SEA 1000 – the Collins Class submarine replacement project – can logically take two paths. The first is for Australia to develop a new class of submarine; the second is to procure a military-off-the-shelf (MOTS) product with some changes to meet local requirements. Of course there can be some blurring between the two because if an existing design is sufficiently altered then in essence it becomes a new submarine – a lesson that should have been learned with the Collins Class. There are several MOTS submarines in service but realistically the two that might be available for Australia are the German HDW Type 214 and the French DCNS ‘Scorpene’. Two other submarines will meet the MOTS classification within the SEA 100 timeframe and the are the Spanish Navantia S-80, currently under construction, and the Swedish Kockums / HDW A26, which has been ordered and is in the design stage.’