The head of Germany’s navy will tour Adelaide’s ASC shipyards tomorrow, headlining a glut of European delegations jetting in this week as international jockeying for lucrative defence contracts heats up.

Vice Admiral Andreas Krause, Germany’s Chief of Navy, is in town today with an entourage for high-level talks to press his country’s case for consideration in the contentious Future Submarine Competitive Evaluation Process.

He’ll also emphasise Germany’s interest in overseeing Australia’s replacement frigate fleet, which the Federal Government has pledged will be largely built in South Australia.

A separate delegation from Danish shipbuilder Odense Maritime Technology is also visiting Adelaide ahead of a “competitive evaluation process” for the $39 billion frigate program.

And DCNS, the French contender for the submarine contract, will host a public forum at the Convention Centre tomorrow to outline its Future Submarine vision, after a Japanese delegation conducted a similar public relations exercise last month.

The forum will be opened by Defence SA CEO Andy Keough.

Krause will dine tonight with Acting Defence Industries Minister Kyam Maher, ahead of a formal meeting.

Over the next two days, both the German and Danish contingents will tour the Techport facility at Osborne, which has already hosted a conga-line of touring delegations in recent months.

“The delegations continue the heightened global interest in SA’s maritime capabilities, which has seen several foreign government and industry delegations this year,” Maher said in a statement.

“The visits are a wonderful opportunity to reinforce first-hand our readiness to partner with the Federal Government’s preferred international partners for both the Future Submarines and Future Frigates programs.”

He said SA was “fully engaged” with Germany, France and Japan, the three potential partners in the submarine program, all of whom have indicated a willingness to build the vessels locally.

The head of Germany’s Navy is in Adelaide this week – and he will register that country’s interest in both submarines and surface ships.

In recent days, the Federal Government has indicated a preference for a local build, although its understood this position had been reached prior to the recent leadership spill and subsequent reshuffle, which saw the defence portfolio handed to Marise Payne.

However, the industry remains concerned that the original 12-vessel submarine procurement plan will be whittled down to eight when the Defence White Paper is finally published later this year, and could be as low as six.

InDaily understands a contract for “six to eight” submarines is favoured, which could mean an initial six-vessel build with an option for two more.

But Chris Burns, chief executive of SA’s Defence Teaming Centre, says the “history of governments exercising options is that they don’t”.

He argues on neither the Oberon nor Collins class submarine was an option for further work taken up, nor was it exercised for a fourth Air Warfare Destroyer.

“Based on that history, if they come out and say ‘we only want eight in a contract’, the industry can only set up for eight,” Burns said.

“And if you’re only buying eight, that can’t get a continuous build, which means we’ll fall back into the old pattern of the ‘Valley of Death’ peaks and troughs, and the workforce will dissipate.”

He said the continuous build was not about guaranteeing employment, but about maintaining and enhancing expertise.

It’s not about making sure you’ve got to keep people employed

“There’s a point where you become export competitive, because you get so good at it,” he said.

“That’s why countries like Japan just build a sub every year – it’s industrial policy, so they can be efficient and effective…and become export capable.”

He said Australia needed to develop a “strategic plan” not just for defence but for general shipbuilding, so that the industry could become a world leader and bid for more international contracts of its own.

But Burns says the industry is nonetheless more confident with the Commonwealth’s recent rhetoric, after an offshore build appeared almost certain at this point last year.

“We’re definitely more heartened…all three contenders have come out and said they’re willing to build in Australia and in some cases would prefer to,” he said.

“It looks like we’ve got a Prime Minister who understands the economics of it.”