Page 58 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

58 FROM THE SOURCE GABBY COSTIGAN
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
GABBY COSTIGAN
BAE SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA MANAGING DIRECTOR
BAE Systems Australia is one of the biggest Defence Primes
in the nation, working across all domains with massive complex programs on the books. ADM Managing Editor Katherine Ziesing caught up with Gabby Costigan to check in on some of these programs as well as her views on the challenges ahead.
ADM: Has COVID-19 had an impact on ANI’s completion of the ASC yard at Osborne and, if so, how has this affected the Hunter frigate program? How has the program been interacting with the other Global Combat Ship programs around the world?
COSTIGAN: COVID-19 is presenting challenges right across our business but I think also across the whole industry and for most industries across the world. But
importantly for us, production engineer-
program was very rapid for a program of this size and com- plexity but I would say we are on target. We’ve had signifi- cant growth in the number of employees and the team now has grown to more than 600 people. We’ve had a great first year, we passed the first engineering milestone.
The new shipyard at Osborne is nearly complete and ready for occupation and that will be a phased occupation throughout the rest of this year. And then obviously there has been signifi- cant engagement with the Australian supply chain, which is strong, ahead of the prototyping phase that we are
PROFILE
2019 UNSW Canberra Advisory Council
2019 University of Adelaide – Defence, Cyber and Space
Advisory Board
2018 CEO BAE Systems Australia
2017 Australian-ASEAN Council Board
2017 Chiefs of Gender Equity
2016 New Columbo Plan Business Champion
2014 CEO LINFOX International
2013 Vice President Military Programs
VAS AEO Services
2010 Director Multi-national Logistics, USCENTCOM
2008 Military Assistant to the Chief of Joint Operations
1992 Graduated Duntroon as LT into the Royal Australian Electrical
HMS Cardiff entered the manufactur-
ing phase and there was a steel cut cer-
emony in August last year. Right now,
there’s more than five units under construction. So you can see there has been significant progress and the work tempo, despite COVID-19, is still continuing at pace.
Here in Australia, Hunter is still in the early design and mobilisation phase but we are, I think, right where we ex- pected to be. Progress during the first year of the Hunter
ing, design and other important work on the Type 26 Program that will support Hunter continues in the UK and in Aus- tralia our role alongside the Australian government and CASG is to continue to work closely with our respective coun- terparts through the Global Combat Ship User Group, so we can address any potential impacts if they arise.
The key thing is we’re fortunate right now that even though the nation is dealing with a pandemic, unlike many other industries, work is really continu- ing at pace in the defence sector and particularly in the shipbuilding side of things. There has been significant prog- ress and a really solid tempo has been achieved on the UK program to date on both HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff. There’s more than 40 units that are un- der construction and then integration of those units is taking place in the ship build and the outfit haul at the BAE Systems yard in Govan, Scotland.
2019 Chair – Council for Women United by Defence Services
commencing later this year.
ADM: What is the approach for AIC when it comes to the Hunter class? What’s the aim point?
COSTIGAN: We certainly have an aim point in mind. We’ve been working in Australia for over 65 years and because of that history we’ve got a really solid understanding of the capability of lo- cal industry. When it comes to AIC, that certainly gives us the confidence that we’re going to be able to achieve north of 60 per cent Australian indus- try content over the life of the Hunter Class program. The team has engaged thousands of Australian small and me- dium sized businesses. We’ve got great confidence in their capability to be able to wholly support all elements of the program.
What I feel is important to talk about, and I think, unfortunately this is what seems to get the most focus when Aus-
tralian industry capability is discussed regarding the Hunt- er program isn’t just a dollar amount or a contract value; it is the development and the growth of Australian sovereign
CONTINUED ON PAGE 54
Mechanical Engineers (RAEME).