Australia’s submarine company ASC is working with US industry partners to uplift Australian businesses into the AUKUS supply chain. Through the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification (DIVQ) Program, ASC, General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII are seeking expressions of interest from Australian businesses that manufacture a range of parts including, but not limited to valves, castings, mechanical assemblies and fittings.
Businesses interested in participating in the DIVQ Program are invited to submit expressions of interest and capability statements to ASC. When suppliers successfully complete DIVQ, they will be qualified to supply Virginia-class submarine parts. It’s the first time the Australian and U.S. submarine builders have collaborated to qualify suppliers for AUKUS, and as the DIVQ Program continues to progress, more businesses in other major product families will be targeted for qualification.
ASC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Whiley, welcomed the collaboration between ASC, General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII. “This is great news for Australian businesses that want to join the AUKUS supply chain,” Whiley said. “It’s also good news for the U.S. We’re not only building sovereign capability; we are also expanding trilateral supply chain capacity and resilience. The parts may be used for both build and sustainment, which means businesses could be part of the AUKUS supply chain for years to come.”
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Kym Bergmann at kym.bergmann@venturamedia.net
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at simon.hadfield@venturamedia.net
Reports out of the UK that the Government has set up an Inquiry into the “viability” of AUKUS given the US’s current behaviour.
Maybe they’ll do us a favour and pull out making the house of cards collapse.
I expect the UK will fully endorse AUKUS for the single reason that Australia is giving them $5 billion dollars with no strings attached. No contract, no nothing – just a massive gift on the vague promise that in the 2040s we will be something. Australia is the country that needs to hold an inquiry, but of course that’s not going to happen.
Might be right especially given that now Trump’s tanked the world’s economy we’re going to have to fork out even more dollars but sounds like there’s some very nervous people in Defence in the UK who see AUKUS as a distraction from the increasing threat level in Europe.
My main gripe is that crewed submarines will be largely obsolete long before we start building any AUKUS subs in Australia. By that time we will be operating a sizeable fleet of AUVs armed with smart torpedoes and supported by seabed surveillance equipment.
That’s also my own view – and that of the USN. Most of their war gaming in the 2040s involves underwater uncrewed systems. There is a view that the USN will be happy to sell us some old Virginia class submarines in the 2030s because they will be obsolete and no longer in US service.
Just as significant is that the Chinese are building and testing these systems and probably at a more rapid rate than we are.
On the subject of AUKUS, in a conversation with a friend it was pointed out that a lot of the components as well as the steel being used to build the Virginia Class May well be imported ( I believe Canada and the UK provide steel as well as Australia) . So will they be exempt from Tariffs ? If not the price just went up… also we discussed Pillar two, seems our great mates only share around 60% or 70% of the Tech they promised. Add to all of this, Elon Musk being tasked with getting the Boat Building on track, it seems the AUKUS we signed up for is what we’re getting. I would be interested in your take on all this.
You raise interesting points and I’ve made my own inquiries about the impact of tariffs. The short answer is no one knows. We live in a time of complete chaos when it comes to US programs with imported components. Think about F-35s for a moment. There is a huge international supply chain – and if everyone is hit for 10% + 25% for anything made from steel or aluminium we are in nightmare cost increase territory. My own best guess – Trump will be forced into a totally humiliating backdown on the entire topic of tariffs.