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Actually the Collins class boats are pretty good - just nowhere near as good as they were meant to be. They've never reached better than about 80% of planned capability - but even at that 80% level, they are among the best and most capable conventional submarines in the world. The media tends to focus on the negative reports (these subs aren't perfect) rather than the positive (but they're pretty good anyway).

The problem at the moment is, again, being somewhat overstated. Two of the submarines are in a position where they could deploy if they had to. They are seaworthy. However, they are in need of maintenance, and it's better to do maintenance before your vessels reach the stage that they are unseaworthy, and so that is being done now at a time when there is no urgent need for them to be at sea.