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Local company Bisalloy Steel has entered into a purchase order with Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of the United States’ largest military shipbuilder HII, for the delivery of steel in a boost for NSW’s Port Kembla region and Australian defence industry.
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The steel will be used by Newport News Shipbuilding for training and testing, with the government applauding the announcement for improving the complexity of AUKUS supply chains.
In 2023, the Illawarra company entered into a contract with the Australian Submarine Agency for the qualification of Australian steel for the SSN-AUKUS and to enhance trilateral AUKUS supply chains.
HII is one of two US companies that design and build US nuclear-powered submarines.
“This is a wonderful early example of opportunities for Australian companies to be part of the supply chains for the much larger submarine programs of our AUKUS partners,” Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said.
“The Australian government is committed to developing Australia’s industrial base to not just build and sustain our nuclear-powered submarine program, but to strengthen the AUKUS trilateral supply chains.”
The Commonwealth recently launched the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification in January 2025 to support and accelerate the qualification of local products in the AUKUS supply chain.
Under the 2023 contract, the Australian Submarine Agency and Bisalloy Steels signed a $15 million contract for the qualification of Australian steel for use on Australia’s future SSN-AUKUS submarines, putting Australian-made products at the centre of the nation’s future submarine fleet.
Using raw plate steel, supplied by BlueScope Steel, Bisalloy Steels will perform an advanced heat treatment process on the raw plate steel to produce high-grade submarine pressure hull steel that meets or exceeds both the UK and US standards, as part of the comprehensive qualification process.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy welcomed this announcement, saying: “The qualification of Australian steel is an important step in the Australian government’s strategy for acquiring state-of-the-art conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines."
This qualification process involves more than 4,500 tests and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.Minister Conroy added: “The strength and quality of Australian steel will keep Australian submariners safe in the SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come, just as it does today on our Collins Class submarines.”
Not only will the steel produced under this contract be used for qualification purposes, but it will also be used to develop the necessary welding procedures and used in early production demonstration activities occurring ahead of the commencement of construction of Australia’s first SSN-AUKUS submarine later this decade.
The AUKUS partnership presents one of the biggest uplifts in Australia’s industrial and defence capability in our history.
