Inside the rescue submarine the Navy hopes it never has to use

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Hastie, H. (2026, October 22). Inside the rescue submarine the Navy hopes it never has to use. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/inside-the-rescue-submarine-the-navy-hopes-it-never-has-to-use-20261023-p6166j.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

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The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-22 · by Hamish Hastie

Quick Summary

The Australian Navy uses a specialized rescue submarine called the LR5, which can respond within 12 hours to rescue submariners in distress. Recently, the LR5 conducted simulated rescue missions off the coast of Rottnest Island, practicing its ability to locate and connect with a submerged "target plate" 20 meters underwater. The annual cost for maintaining this system is around $23 million, covering training simulations twice yearly, according to JFD Australia managing director Adrian Capner.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-22, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Australian Navy is testing a new rescue submarine called LR5, developed by James Fisher Defence (JFD). This submarine can be deployed within 12 hours to rescue submariners stranded underwater, making it one of only six air-dispatchable submarines worldwide capable of such rapid response. Recently, the LR5 completed simulated rescue missions in Cockburn Sound and off Rottnest Island, demonstrating its ability to locate a submerged submarine hatch, connect to it, and transport rescued personnel directly into hyperbaric chambers upon surfacing. Despite its cramped conditions, submariners see boarding the LR5 as a significant improvement over remaining trapped underwater.

Written for “Navy Rescue Submarine Hope” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Navy Rescue Submarine Hope
Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 4669 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Hamish Hastie
27 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 There are no windows in the back, the condensation from your breath clinging to the roof drips down your neck, and you have to fold your body in half just to fit, but for a submariner stranded hundreds of metres underwater, boarding the LR5 would feel like getting into the back of a Rolls Royce.
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Also by Hamish Hastie
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 27 articles by Hamish Hastie →

Topics

Australia JFD LR5 Navy a Rolls Royce

Subjects

Navy ORG · 4× Australia GPE · 3× JFD ORG · 3× Australian NORP · 1× Dan Sutherland PERSON · 1× JFD Australia ORG · 1× James Fisher Defence ORG · 1× RAN Submarine Force ORG · 1× Royal Australian Navy ORG · 1× WAtoday PERSON · 1×

Narrative

There are no windows in the back, the condensation from your breath clinging to the roof drips down your neck, and you have to fold your body in half just to fit, but for a submariner stranded hundreds of metres underwater, boarding the LR5 would feel like getting into the back of a Rolls Royce.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
🔮 There are no windows in the back, the condensation from your breath clinging to the roof drips down your neck, and you have to fold your body in half just to fit, but for a submariner stranded hundreds of metres underwater, boarding the LR5 would feel like getting into the back of a Rolls Royce.
2026-10-22 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Inside the rescue submarine the Navy hopes it never has to use · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 2 hedged)

There are no windows in the back, the condensation from your breath clinging to the roof drips down your neck, and you have to fold your body in half just to fit, but for a submariner stranded hundreds of metres underwater, boarding the LR5 would feel like getting into the back of a Rolls Royce. asserted
boarding → be → Royce
The LR5 is operated by the Australian arm of James Fisher Defence and is one of six air dispatchable submarines in the world that can be called on with just 12-hours notice to rescue submariners stranded underwater. asserted
that → operate → submariners
For the past few weeks, the LR5 has been running simulated submarine rescue missions at the bottom of the Cockburn Sound and off the coast of Rottnest Island to ensure they’re match fit if the real thing ever happens. asserted
thing → run → Island
WAtoday joined the JFD team alongside senior Royal Australian Navy personnel for one of those simulated missions last week when the LR5 had to locate and connect to a fake submarine hatch known as a target plate 20 metres underwater. asserted
LR5 → join → plate
The simulation tests all facets of the rescue chain, from deploying the vessel to locating the submarine, rescuing the crew and bringing them back to the surface where they exit the LR5 straight into hyperbaric chambers. asserted
they → test → chambers
JFD has held the rescue contract with the Navy since 2017, but neither the company nor the Navy would reveal the exact cost – only that it was about $23 million per annum. asserted
it → hold → annum
That cost covers at least two full-scale training simulations each year. asserted
cost → cover → simulations
RAN Submarine Force commander Commodore Dan Sutherland said the LR5 and its supporting systems was essential to Australia’s submarine operations. asserted
LR5 → say → operations
“This submarine and the system that supports it is really important to us. asserted
that → support → us
It provides assurance that should the worst happen, and all the design redundancies and features built into our submarines, should they fail or in the event of some unforeseen catastrophe, this is our lifeline,” he said. asserted
he → provide → catastrophe
“This is the hope that we have that we will get home to our loved ones, back to Australia and to where we’ve come from in one piece, safe and sound.” asserted
we → have → piece
JFD Australia managing director Adrian Capner said he didn’t believe it was expensive when it came to preserving lives. asserted
it → say → lives
“There’s a number of different ways you can cut that, but not least of which is how much is a life worth,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → much
“We’re only going to get one chance in a generation to prove ourselves with this system, and you know it’s going to happen on a day where it’s going to be after a grand final, or in the middle of school holidays, or like most things that happen, you know, seems to be Christmas Day. asserted
you → go → things
“So we have to be ready every time, fully booted and spurred.” asserted
we → have → ?
Our simulation involved bundling into the back of the LR5, a narrow steel tube, no wider than two metres in diameter, and being slowly lowered into the ocean from the Stoker, the privately operated Navy ship transporting the submarine and hyperbaric chamber set up. asserted
simulation → involve → submarine
To locate the target plate, connect, disconnect and head back to the surface took about two hours and by that time this reporter’s lower back muscles were on fire. asserted
muscles → locate → fire
In a real scenario, the submarine can pick up between 14 and 16 submariners from a stranded submarine and depending on the depth of the sub and difficulty of connecting with it, could be more than six hours for a round trip. uncertain
submarine → pick → trip
If the stranded submarine was a fully manned Collins Class that would mean days of ferrying back and forth. asserted
that → strand → days
For the Virginia-class submarines Australia plans to purchase from the US under the AUKUS agreement, a fully manned submarine could mean more than 130 submariners needing rescue, so both JFD and the Navy are contemplating scaling up rescue capacity when the LR5 comes to the end of its life by 2032. uncertain
LR5 → plan → 2032
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