Page 68 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019

PACIFIC
HUNTER CLASS
“The next major milestone will be a System Design Review (SDR), to be conducted in the fourth quarter of 2020 and which will be a major test of Hunter design maturity.”
The Hunter class will form the basis of the RAN's warfighting capability alongside her sister classes.
AIC and the Australian supply chain
Local industry was invited to bid for work in the prototyping phase of the Sea 5000 build program in late June, with an estimat- ed $20 million in contracts up for grabs, but in the meantime Australian small to medi- um enterprises (SMEs) are already winning work supplying components and services to BAE System’s GCS supply chain.
On July 9 for example, Defence Min- ister Linda Reynolds used a visit to BAE System’s Govan shipyard to announce that Adelaide-based Airspeed had become the latest Australian SME to win work on the GCS program.
Airspeed will provide the Replenish- ment At Sea (RAS) ‘stump mast’ for the Royal Navy’s first three ships between now and 2023. Minister Reynolds noted that Airspeed was the second supplier from South Australia to join a number of Australian companies already working on the program, including CBG Systems (Moonraker), Electro Optic Systems, Lif- eraft Systems Australia, Mackay Consoli- dated Rubber, Rowlands Metalworks and prime, Thales Australia.
BAE Systems has broken the supply chain down into four categories: Categories A & B are large subsystems, such as propulsion systems, drive train, shaft line etc; Category C covers the supply of smaller components such as pumps and valves, pipes and fit- tings; and Category D covers the supply of services, such as paint, scaffolding etc.
“We have hard targets for Categories C & D to maximise what is delivered from the Australian supply chain component, but equally we are working with Catego- ry A & B suppliers to provide opportuni- ties, with some notable successes,” Lock- hart explained.
“We’re working with companies includ- ing Rolls-Royce, MTU, Penske Power Sys- tems etc. to bring work onshore to Austra- lia. We’re working hard with Rolls-Royce in particular to transition to a fully onshore solution over the course of the program and we’re working to bring even more auxiliary component supply onshore as well.
“We’re looking to use companies like Marand to supply into Rolls-Royce and to position Australian industry to sell into companies like Rolls-Royce, General Elec- tric and Naval Group – these are all com- panies where we’re well advanced in terms of their supply chain commitments, but also their commitment to help us deliver Australian Industry Content (AIC) and that’s been well-received.”
A further opportunity for local industry participation will come with the develop- ment of a ‘Cruiser in a Cornfield’ land- based test facility to test the CEAFAR2 ra- dar, Aegis combat system and other sensors in an integrated environment and which is part of the de-risking activity for the Hunt- er program. ADM understands that ASC Shipbuilding is currently working with the Commonwealth to develop proposals for
the design and construction of the facility, which will also be used throughout the life of the ship in the development of future upgrades under the Ship Zero concept – see P36 for more on this.
ASC Shipbuilding already has 900 lo- cal suppliers signed up through its Sup- ply Chain Qualification Initiative, with around 450 in SA, 150 in WA and the re- mainder distributed throughout the coun- try. The first Expressions of Interest – in support of the $20 million prototyping ac- tivity - are due to be released before the end of this year. Seven indigenous suppliers are already on the company’s books and have benefited from mentoring to ensure they are ready to supply into the defence con- tracting environment, but the biggest chal- lenge faced by the prospective supply chain, according to Lockhart, is cybersecurity.
“I think that’s an unsighted challenge within the supply chain and one that will come with some cost and effort,” he said. “As BAE Systems and ASC Shipbuilding, we have to provide the customer with an assurance that when this platform comes together, the whole platform is cyber- accredited - and that inevitably flows through the supply chains. That’s probably the challenge that will test us hardest.”
CSC and future sales
The Canadian Government originally se- lected the GCS design as the basis for its future Canadian Surface Combatant ves- sel in October 2018 and upheld its selec- tion February this year, following a lawsuit brought on by one of the losing bidders.
Canada will acquire 15 ships, to be built locally by Irving Shipbuilding at its yard in
68 | October 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DEFENCE