$100bn for submarines

AUSTRALIA’S new fleet of submarines is estimated to cost taxpayers $100 billion until 2080.

French shipbuilder Naval Group has the $50 billion contract to design the 12 submarines which will be built in Adelaide.

Defence department officials told a Senate estimates hearing yesterday the maintenance costs are expected to be $50 billion over the next 60 years. The first steel for the Australian submarines is expected to be cut by 2022, with the first vessels due to enter service in the early 2030s.