BAE Systems Maritime Australia (BAESMA) is expanding its Strategic Supplier Partnerships program with selected small and medium enterprises to protect the construction schedule of the first of three anti-submarine warships contracted under the Hunter Class Frigate Program. Producing ship sections offsite ensures production of the nation’s first Tier One submarine hunting surface combatant continues when the Osborne Naval Shipyard is operating at full production capacity.
The company has two Strategic Supplier Partnerships with Century Engineering at Edinburgh North and MG Engineering at Port Adelaide, delivering key elements of the first ship. The success of these two partnerships will see BAESMA commence onboarding additional Australian companies later this year and into 2026 to increase availability of both capacity and capability to assist in meeting production needs.
MG Engineering has now commenced Ship 1 Production of Unit B21 and Unit C31B components at its Port Adelaide facility. This a significant achievement as it represents the first outsourced Ship 1 product for the Hunter program. These components are produced from raw plate and profiled together with complex shaped shell formed at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. The fabricated components will be the first primary structure fabricated outside of the Osborne Naval Shipyard.
“Supplying units for the first Hunter class frigate is a massive undertaking that requires not only technical expertise but also a commitment to meeting deadlines and quality benchmarks,” said Jason Loveday, Program Director, Hunter Class Frigate Program, BAESMA. “MG Engineering’s status as a strategic supplier is a testament to the capabilities of its people and dedication to ensuring it delivers nothing short of the highest quality,” Loveday said. “In a complex project like this, the ability to manage an efficient, reliable supply chain is vital. We work closely with our suppliers and logistics teams, and we maintain a strong focus on quality control at every step of the process.”
“MG Engineering is proud to be a key supplier for the construction of the first of the Hunter anti-submarine frigates,” said Anthony Brdar, Managing Director, MG Engineering. “Our team’s commitment to precision and quality has enabled us to achieve this level of support for the Commonwealth’s biggest surface ship program,” Brdar said. “This strategic partnership not only reinforces our position in the defence sector but also demonstrates our capacity to deliver complex, high-performance components to Tier One complex surface combatants,” he said.
MG Engineering – the first outsourced product for Ship 1
- MG Engineering is cutting, forming, and fabricating these components into complex fabricates including sideshells, bulkheads, and seats.
- BAESMA Safety, Manufacturing Engineering & Quality departments have ensured alignment between MG Engineering and BAESMA processes align to produce compliant products to both Hunter class frigate specifications and Lloyd’s Register rules.
- MG Engineering previously assembled prototyping unit UC31B—consolidating side shells they manufactured, with decks and bulkheads manufactured in the shipyard and delivered to MG Engineering for assembly.
- Weighing more than 16 tonnes, the complex product demonstrated MG Engineering’s capability to produce ship sections offsite, providing schedule protection when the shipyard is at full capacity.
- The prototype port side unit will be joined by its starboard counterpart in coming weeks, where they will be installed on Prototyping Block 5—which would form a substantial part of the Hunter’s shell hull.
Progress on Ship 1
- The construction of Ship 1 is tracking on budget and on schedule. Construction has commenced on 29 of 78 blocks for the first of class, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Commonwealth in 2032 and become operational in 2034.
- Ships 2 and 3 will follow on a 2-year cycle with expected operational dates in 2036 and 2038 respectively.
- The construction of the Hunter anti-submarine warfare fleet is part of a wider Commonwealth investment in establishing Continuous Naval Shipbuilding in Australia to deliver a sovereign maritime capability that will endure for decades.
- Construction of up to six Hunter class anti-submarine warfare frigates will require a workforce of up to 2600 employees and more than 400 trades will be hired in 2025 to achieve this peak capability at Osborne Naval Shipyard.
- BAESMA has already placed more than 80 contracts with Australian industry.
- At Osborne Naval Shipyard, BAESMA is partnering with small and medium-sized enterprises onsite to deliver a range of requirements in blast and painting, insulation, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning), deck coverings, non-destructive testing, and habitation. Some of these companies have already been contracted, and others are in the process of being contracted and will be announced later in 2025.
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
