HII and Babcock joint venture H&B Defence has secured its first contract to enhance supply chain capabilities for the AUKUS enterprise – a trilateral strategic partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – through the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot Program.
H&B will serve as the delivery partner for HII’s initial A$9.6 million contract with the Australian Government, an will lead a nationwide qualification process over the next two years to identify Australian suppliers with the requisite skills and products to support Virginia-class submarine and aircraft carrier build programs at Newport News Shipbuilding in the US.
“H&B Defence brings together the only two organisations worldwide with comprehensive expertise in every aspect of nuclear-powered submarine activities, and as such, is perfectly placed to support the acceleration and development of critical sovereign capability for the once-in-a-generation AUKUS submarine program,” said H&B Defence Board Chairman and HII Australia President Michael Lempke.
According to H&B Defence’s statement, the joint venture will support each stage of Australia’s transition to sovereign nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS Pillar 1, including workforce skills development, nuclear infrastructure design and build, submarine defueling and decommissioning, nuclear waste and future sustainment.
Now entering its fourth year since its proposed founding, the AUKUS programme was created to be a strategic, long-term defence technology and industrial base effort to bolster deterrence and defence capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
Pillar 1 calls for the acquisition and development of conventionally armed but nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The force currently operates the conventionally powered Collins-class diesel-electric submarines.
by Jr Ng
