More than 50 Australian companies and research, development and educational institutions gathered in Hobart to be updated by key Future Submarine Program representatives on the program’s progress to date.
A joint briefing was held between 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.
“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 Brent Clark, CEO of Naval Group Australia.
“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.
Lockheed Martin Australia is keen to hear from Tasmanian suppliers, to support their plan to team with Australian companies to provide the engineering capacity needed to support 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,” said Vince Di Pietro, CEO for Lockheed Martin Australia.
“We want to hear from industry across a range of fields including systems integration, cyber security and hardware engineering. 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, October 4 during the PACIFIC 2017 exhibition in Sydney.
Naval Group and Lockheed Martin Australia are committed to building all 12 submarines in Adelaide and ensuring Australia has the long term capacity to sustain them.