Page 27 - Australian Defence Mag March 2020
P. 27

MARCH 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
DEFENCE BUSINESS SUBMARINES 27
was not yet contracted; the first production contract would be signed prior to construction in Adelaide in 2023 of a hull qualification section.
A joint NGA-Commonwealth statement on 13 February reaffirmed their intention of maximising Australian industry involvement throughout all phases of the Attack-class pro- gram, with current activities focused on understanding the capabilities of Australian industry for the manufacture of submarine equipment different to that of the Collins-class.
YARD DESIGN AND BUILD
Piling is now underway at Osborne North northwest of Ad- elaide for the state-of-the-art shipyard being built by Com- monwealth-owned Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI) for Attack-class construction – and a fair number of brown snakes are being disturbed by the vibrations.
Davis describes the facility, designed by NGA, as sophisti- cated and capable but not gold-plated.
“NGA have been working with the Commonwealth and some international experts on productivity options, every- thing from work station layout and holdpoints in construction through to manufacturing processes themselves,” he said.
Phase 1 works will be completed in mid-2021 and will pro- vide the yard with a combat system physical integration facil- ity and a platform land-based testing. Planning and design
of the main construction facility is still underway and build will start in 2021.
As currently scheduled, construction activities will start in Australia in 2023.
Meanwhile resourcing the 5,000-plus workforce needed at Osborne around 2007 for Future Submarine construction and that of the neighbouring and overlapping Future Frigate program is exercising minds.
The naval shipbuilding industry strategic workforce plan launched in October 2019 by NGA, BAE Systems, ASC, Lurssen, Lockheed Martin, Saab and the Naval Shipbuild- ing College (NSC) has confirmed short-term program man- agement, procurement and engineering requirements for both programs can be met.
However, medium and longer-term skills in those and other areas such as detailed design will require sustained cooperation with NSC, technical colleges and other training establishments.
According to industry sources, access to the current skills market is currently being constrained by problems in obtaining security clearances both for Australian and inter- national specialists. ■
ABOVE: The Attack class will be built at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in a new facility.
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