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Australia’s Future Submarine Program briefing has travelled to Hobart, attracting over 50 Australian companies to the event.
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Research and development and educational institutions gathered in Hobart yesterday to be updated by key Future Submarine Program representatives on the program’s progress to date.
The event was a joint briefing involving the Department of Defence as the customer, and the two prime contractors – Naval Group as the platform system integrator (PSI) and Lockheed Martin Australia as the combat system integrator (CSI).
Chief executive of Naval Group Australia Brent Clark said the briefing was another opportunity for the whole nation to contribute to the project.
"The purpose of today’s briefing is to provide an update on the Future Submarine Program and how we want to maximise Australian industry involvement," said Clark.
"It is important for Australian industry to understand that this is a national project and everyone has the opportunity to contribute."
With the infrastructure to build the submarines going into Adelaide from next year, Naval Group is looking for suppliers with expertise in civil works, consultancy, building and engineering.
For the submarine program, the company is looking for suppliers with expertise in mechanical and fluid systems, raw materials, software and hardware, production and industrial services.
As CSI for the project, Lockheed Martin Australia said it is keen to hear from Tasmanian suppliers to support their plan to team with Australian companies to provide the engineering capacity needed for the program.
"We are ramping up the design and mobilisation phase of Australia’s Future Submarine Program, and are looking to Australian industry to support all facets of our combat system integration work. We want to hear from industry across a range of fields including systems integration, cyber security and hardware engineering," said Vince Di Pietro, CEO of Lockheed Martin Australia.
"Our approach is to maximise Australian industry’s involvement in the program to complement capability, without compromising cost, schedule or risk. It is a long-term program which will provide opportunities for innovation and sustainable business growth through the transfer of new technology and capability to Australian industry to build and sustain a sovereign submarine capability."
The Future Submarine industry briefings will continue around the nation in 2017, with the next briefing scheduled for Wednesday, 4 October during the PACIFIC 2017 exhibition in Sydney.
Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said these high-level forums are of vital importance in maximising Australian industry involvement in the construction and sustainment of the submarine fleet into the future, creating job opportunities across Australia.
"This is a great opportunity for the Defence Industry in Hobart and more broadly across Tasmania to get involved in the Future Submarine Program, a key part of our $89 billion continuous shipbuilding program," the minister said.
"The industry days which have already visited Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, have attracted more than 1,400 attendees from Australian companies, research and development institutions and educational organisations."
