The transfer of knowledge and skills as part of the Hunter Class Frigate Program has been realised through the secondment of over 50 employees from ASC Shipbuilding to BAE Systems’ shipyards in Scotland.
With the Hunter Class Frigate based on the Type 26 design being delivered for the UK navy, the employees were in Glasgow to bring the designs, processes, intellectual property, supply chain and knowledge within the Type 26 program to the Australian shipbuilding program.
“ASC Shipbuilding’s knowledge transfer program will make a significant contribution to a sovereign shipbuilding capability for Australia by transferring the knowledge, tools, processes and data needed for continuous naval shipbuilding,” said managing director of ASC Shipbuilding Craig Lockhart.
ASC, the shipbuilder for the Hunter Class program, is a subsidiary of BAE Systems Australia, and will build nine frigates based on the Type 26 design. Employees will spend a few months to two years in Scotland as part of the secondment. In addition, six UK employees are working in Australia.
“When they return to Australia, they can take that knowledge and apply it to the Australian context and together with the innovative and agile shipbuilding practices that are already evident in the Osborne Naval Shipyard, they will not only build the nine Hunter class frigates, but sovereign capability for Australia,” said Lockhart.
Further knowledge sharing will be conducted through Rolls-Royce and Australian marine engineering company Taylor Bros sharing employees with the Type 26 program, as Rob Madders, managing director of Rolls-Royce Australia outlined.
“We’re delighted that our first secondee, a highly experienced engineer who has been working with our defence engineering team as part of the Amphibious and Afloat Support Group at Sydney’s Garden Island Naval Base, has joined the Australian engineering team at the BAE Systems Scotstoun Yard in Glasgow,” he said.bae etc