Mr. Chairman, the diesel submarines are very quiet. The Upholder class is a state of the art submarine. It is very quiet. Stealth is important in underwater operations. Nuclear submarines are not as quiet or as stealthy as the diesel ones are.
The United States, which has a nuclear fleet, is interested in training with the diesel fleets. The Americans are happy that we are proceeding on this purchase because our navies do work closely together, above and below the surface. We are anxious to get these up and operating. There have been some delays.
It is a very complex piece of equipment. Any time a complex piece of equipment is brought into existence it takes time. It took the Australians 15 years to get theirs into operation. We will get ours into operation in five or six years. They will serve us well for a long period of time. We want to ensure that they are ready to serve this country and that they are ready to perform the kinds of functions that we want them to. We want to ensure that they are safe for our submariners.