The long-troubled Collins Class submarines have finally shed their "dud subs" tag.
They have been taken off Defence's project shame list after nine years.
"Unfortunately the Collins Class submarine project has suffered from reputational damage over the years," Defence Industry Christopher Pyne told reporters at the Pacific 17 maritime showcase in Sydney on Wednesday.
"I think quite a bit of that was ill-informed."
The vessels experienced a raft of technical problems involving noise levels, propulsion, periscopes and combat systems following their commission in the mid-1990s.
Their poor public image had also made it hard for the Navy to maintain crews.
Mr Pyne said an extraordinary effort had been put into rectifying the issues and submarine availability is now meeting international benchmarks.
As a result, the federal government is confident the project can be removed from Defence's project-of-concern list.
"I think it is a real feather in the cap for Defence that it's now come off... the list it probably could have come off sooner," Mr Pyne said.
SAAB Australia will upgrade the subs' control system, while Raytheon Australia will undertake the communications systems revamp.
Both projects will cost $540 million.
Last week, an independent report raised concerns Australia could have a capability gap between its new fleet of French-designed submarines coming into service and the six Collins being withdrawn by 2036.
It suggested the government buy off-the shelf-subs as an insurance policy.
But the government has rejected the call and insists the Collins subs will be up to scratch until the new fleet is ready.
"The recent so-called detailed analysis into our $50 billion future submarine program is nothing more than a hatchet job on an important national endeavour instigated by armchair critics with no understanding of the competitive evaluation process undertaken," Mr Pyne said.
The minister also announced Australian firm CEA Technologies has won a $148 million contract to build a new radar for the Anzac frigates.
Those frigates will be replaced from the mid-2020s.
Three shipbuilders are in the running for the $30 billion new frigate program - the UK's BAE Systems with its Type 26, Fincantieri of Italy with its FREMM and Navantia of Spain with an updated F100.
The winner will be announced next year.
Production is scheduled to start from 2020 at the federal government-owned shipyard in Osborne South Australia.
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