Page 34 - Australian Defence Magazine March-April 2022

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DEFENCE EXPORT
MARCH-APRIL 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
RIGHT:
A Bushmaster from Battlegroup Coral during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021
BELOW:
The US Navy is a major user of the Nulka decoy. Sailors lower a Mk.234 missile canister from the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman
“For example, our one-metre Cobra maritime satellite antenna has now been sold to several European navies in addition to sales in the Middle East and to the RAN.”
PATROL BOATS FOR THE PACIFIC
As reported in ADM’s list of the top 40 Defence contractors of 2021, shipbuilder Austal disclosed exports for the year of $112 million.
The bulk of Austal’s defence revenue – itself about 85 per cent of the company’s $1.5 billion turnover – is derived from US Navy contracts with its wholly-owned shipyard subsidiary in Mobile, Alabama, where some locals are said to regard the company as a US entity in which Australians happen to have invested money.
Nevertheless, Austal’s sole stock exchange listing – since 1998 – is on the ASX, and corporate headquarters, design authority and concept design development remain firmly ensconced at Henderson, together with 1,000 personnel in Henderson and Cairns (plus 1,000 in the Philippines, 500 in Vietnam and 3,200 in the US).
Chief Executive Paddy Gregg is clear – since the USN’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and Expeditionary Fast Trans- ports (EFTs) are built by Austal in the US for the USN, they’re not regarded as exports.
Nevertheless, as of early 2022 Austal had delivered 15 In- dependence-class LCS with another four under construc- tion, the last of which will be completed in 2025. Twelve EFPs have been delivered and another two are under con- struction. Funding to convert EFT 13 into an autonomous vessel has been appropriated and the contract awarded.
At present, Austal’s export output involves the construc- tion at Henderson of 21 Guardian-class patrol boats gifted by Australia to 12 Pacific Island nations under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.
Thirteen of the 39.5 metre monohull boats, based on Austal’s proven design for the Armidale and Cape-class pa- trol boats in service with the RAN and Australian Border Force, have now been delivered under a $335 million con- tract signed in 2016 and added to in 2018.
Every vessel to date has been delivered on time and on budget “and I don’t think there are any other shipbuilders in Australia who could say they have a program that hasn’t missed a beat during COVID,” Gregg told ADM.
The company’s strategic decision in 2020 to move its fo- cus in the US to steel construction addressed a changing USN focus on lethality, survivability and high-end capabil- ity at sea. Implementing the change has been assisted by a $50 million US government grant (matched by Austal) to invest in new facilities in Mobile which will begin cutting steel in April for two Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Res- cue ships, with a USN option for three more.
“With the Guardian-class you get the durability of the steel hull coupled with the lightweight aluminium superstructure which certainly helps with efficiency, speed, and stability of the vessel having less weight up high,” said Gregg.
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