Australia’s Future Submarine Program moved ahead this week with the announcement that Naval Group Australia had released a new jobs package and the government announcing that Thales, through Lockheed Martin Australia, for the design of the primary underwater sensor of the submarine.
Naval Group Australia said its jobs package targets workers ranging from office staff to engineers as it aims to add 100 people by April and double its total South Australian-based workforce by the end of 2021. The jobs campaign will run across social and traditional media and invites people to make the jump from their existing work to ‘build a submarine instead’.
Naval Group Australia Chief Executive Officer, John Davis, said the company was seeking a range of trade and professional skills as it geared up for the generational construction project, and that people who had never even considered a career in defence could make a difference. “Designing and building Australia’s 12 Attack Class Submarines is one of the most significant undertakings in our nation’s history,” Davis said. “We need Australians from right across the country to ‘sub what they do’ and become part of delivering this unique and exciting capability to Australia. We are offering great jobs that will turn into remarkable careers…We are working with the world’s best technology and expertise, gathered from 100 years of submarine building in France, to deliver a regionally superior submarine fleet that will defend our island nation for decades to come. A graduate who joins this company fresh from training could spend their entire working life with Naval Group Australia, and retire as the 12th submarine goes to sea.”
Naval Group Australia currently employs more than 250 people at its Keswick and Port Adelaide offices. That is expected to increase by around 100 by April next year, with a target to reach a total of more than 500 workers by the end of 2021. Naval Group Australia expects to employ 1,700 people directly by 2028 and support hundreds more jobs in the new advanced manufacturing supply chain that is being created to construct the nation’s 12 new Attack Class Submarines.
In 2021, Naval Group Australia will invite new applications across a range of areas including software developers and cyber security, drafters, welders, ICT professionals, fabrication supervisors, procurement, legal, commercial and finance professionals as well as engineers specialising in the fields of electrical, mechanical, production and integrated logistics support.
Meanwhile, the government announced that a contract had been signed with Thales UK, through Lockheed Martin Australia, for the design of the outboard flank array and partnering arrangements with Australian industry. The outboard flank array forms part of the sonar subsystem and is the submarine’s eyes and ears, providing situational awareness for the crew.
Thales will support and promote Australian Industry Capability by conducting a proportion of the design phase in Australia by engaging one of three Australian based companies, Thales Australia, Babcock Australia, and BMT Group, through a competitive process. The company will also leverage existing in-country capabilities that support other Australian Defence Force assets, including the Collins class submarine, for the assembly, integration and sustainment phases. Following the successful completion of the design phase, further work will be contracted for the manufacture of the subsystem from 2023.
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