Premier Peter Malinauskas has announced a new program with America’s largest shipbuilder HII to help South Australian companies enter the global supply chain for nuclear-powered submarines.
The Premier announced the new program with HII while touring HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia in the United States, where the defence giant builds Virginia Class submarines.
The agreement connects the South Australian Government to HII’s Supplier Capability Uplift Program, enabling selected SA suppliers to participate in the nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarine supply chain.
Given the highly specialised and technical nature of the work to build Virginia Class submarines, participating companies will be evaluated by HII using the same requirements applied to its existing US suppliers.
HII will undertake reviews of South Australian companies that provide design and engineering, equipment integration, advanced manufacturing, welding, fabrication, and quality services.
On completion of the review process, participating companies will receive a tailored report outlining recommendations for capability development and improvement activities required to compete for work on the Virginia Class Submarine Program.
Participating SA businesses will be able to apply for matched funding to address the recommendations arising from their review report.
Information gathered through the program will further support the SA Government’s industry development activities which aim to enable more South Australian companies to compete for work in international supply chains. This means they could potentially enter the supply chain for the Virginia Class.
Ultimately it is the goal of the program to have these South Australian companies positioned to enter the supply chain for the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines to be built at Osborne in Adelaide.
