Australia's full fleet of Collins Class submarines may need to be upgraded before their French-built replacements are ready.
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Chief of Navy Michael Noonan is assessing how many of the six ageing vessels will need major work to keep them in service.
"We are yet to fully determine how many of the boats we will upgrade," Vice Admiral Noonan told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Wednesday.
"We're expecting that we will upgrade at least five, and the work around determining the scope of the upgrade has begun but has not yet been fully decided."
Defence had planned to retire the Collins Class submarines from 2026, but has since decided to prolong their lives until the new fleet arrives.
The first of the French-built vessels is expected to be delivered in 2032 and enter service about three years later.
Australia has signed a $50 billion contract with the French state-owned company Naval Group to deliver 12 submarines.
The shipbuilder originally promised 90 per cent of the build would be carried out locally.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne later downgraded this estimate to 60 per cent.
However, the committee was told a percentage figure for a minimum amount of Australian work was not part of the government's negotiating process with Naval Group.
"There will is no minimum Australian content for our submarines project, no minimum number of Australian jobs," Labor senator Penny Wong told reporters.
"So not only did they not achieve it, this Morrison government didn't even try to achieve a minimum local content."
Mr Pyne said he would not be lectured to by the Labor Party, "who didn't commit to build a single naval vessel in Australia in six years".
He said it was coalition policy to maximise Australian content for the French-built submarines.
"It's the height of hypocrisy for Labor to criticise the coalition, given their inaction led to shipbuilding job losses," Mr Pyne told AAP.
Australian Associated Press
