#Official Defence Thread

[Norman]

Maybe a pesky journalist asked one of those pointed questions (like they all do these days) such as "can you guarantee that 100% of the workers will be ocker Aussie blokes with an Australian citizenship?", followed by questions that are similar but worded differently.

[rev]

Professional services firm PwC estimates naval shipbuilding will reap $134.4 billion for South Australia

EXCLUSIVE, Chief Reporter, The Advertiser
October 11, 2017 6:05am

Subscriber only

ADELAIDE’S naval shipbuilding program will trigger a $134.4 billion economic bonanza for the state, including 8000 jobs.
In an independent assessment of the $89 billion submarine, frigate and offshore patrol vessel construction projects, to be released today, professional services firm PwC estimates they will create 8000 jobs in South Australia, more than tripling the current workforce.
Of these, 3500 will be in shipbuilding and 4550 in industries directly related to shipbuilding.
The increase in gross state product of $134.4 billion during the construction program, scheduled to start next year and last until the early 2050s, is equivalent to an average $6300 per household each year.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said the report was great news for current and future workers, while PwC economics and policy partner Jeremy Thorpe said the substantial economic benefits would have important community flow-on effects.
“South Australia will be entrenched as Australia’s key naval construction centre and the shipbuilding program alone will triple the South Australian (naval construction) workforce and boost GSP (gross state product) by upwards of $134.4 billion over 40 years,” Mr Thorpe said.
“An uplift of this size is the equivalent of adding a total new mining industry to the SA economy, year-on-year over the life of the program.
“It is rare that a state sees such a long-term commitment that can be banked on. This avoids the traditional problems of a boom and bust cycle.”
French company DCNS (now Naval Group) last year won the $50 billion contract to build 12 submarines at Osborne’s Techport naval shipbuilding precinct. Nine frigates will also be built at Osborne in a $35 billion project from 2020, as well as the first two of 12 offshore patrol vessels from next year before the project transfers to Western Australia.
Submarine construction will start in 2022-23 and the last boat is likely to enter service in the early 2050s. For much of this time, the frigates project will also be running.
The PwC report’s figures are based on the Federal Government’s expectation of SA attracting at least 60 per cent of the spending for the $89 billion shipbuilding program.
Mr Pyne highlighted the report’s finding that for every $10 million in expenditure in SA directly related to shipbuilding, there would be a total of $24 million in additional GSP.
“Not only will there be thousands of new jobs as a result of the Government’s $90 billion naval shipbuilding endeavour, but South Australia will be hallmarked as Australia’s key naval construction centre,” Mr Pyne said.
In commentary likely to trigger criticism by Labor and crossbench Senator Nick Xenophon, the PwC report says the Federal Government “rightly makes the point” that setting a minimum local work target “is a mistake as Australian industry should be incentivised to make the most of this unique opportunity”.
State Government agency Defence SA warned in April that SA was set for only a tiny slice of the $89 billion naval shipbuilding program, saying there was a “false perception that all of the economic benefits will be delivered to SA”.
Premier Jay Weatherill then said the state wanted a commitment about jobs, citing a 90 per cent figure for Australian project work.
Also in April, Senator Xenophon condemned as alarming the failure of Naval Group’s Australian Industry Capability Plan for the submarine project to set a minimum level for Australian involvement.
But the PwC report says debating the absolute level of ­expenditure in SA is not productive. The priority should be to mobilise SA industry to capitalise by providing products or investing to grow capabilities to support shipbuilding, it says.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 156a2aef17

[rev]

Pyne claims the ship/sub building projects will attract 50,000 people to SA.
So what about the 5-6% of the working population that are currently unemployed, and the many times that who are under employed?

The sub maintenance work for the new subs could go to WA, it's worth at least $200 billion over the life of the subs.

[Goodsy]

Pyne claims the ship/sub building projects will attract 50,000 people to SA.
So what about the 5-6% of the working population that are currently unemployed, and the many times that who are under employed?

The sub maintenance work for the new subs could go to WA, it's worth at least $200 billion over the life of the subs.

those 5-6% could be swallowed up by the extra services needed for those 50,000 people

[rev]

Pyne claims the ship/sub building projects will attract 50,000 people to SA.
So what about the 5-6% of the working population that are currently unemployed, and the many times that who are under employed?

The sub maintenance work for the new subs could go to WA, it's worth at least $200 billion over the life of the subs.

those 5-6% could be swallowed up by the extra services needed for those 50,000 people

Of course, but what I was getting at was governments particularly in recent times rather then fix the problems we have already, seem to think that shifting populations from state to state, or from overseas to here(Australia) will fix our economy and other associated problems.

[Goodsy]

Pyne claims the ship/sub building projects will attract 50,000 people to SA.
So what about the 5-6% of the working population that are currently unemployed, and the many times that who are under employed?

The sub maintenance work for the new subs could go to WA, it's worth at least $200 billion over the life of the subs.

those 5-6% could be swallowed up by the extra services needed for those 50,000 people

Of course, but what I was getting at was governments particularly in recent times rather then fix the problems we have already, seem to think that shifting populations from state to state, or from overseas to here(Australia) will fix our economy and other associated problems.

Once manufacturing is gone that's all there is left, more people need more services so more jobs are created. Endless population growth is the only way forward in this sort of economy.

[Pistol]

I have worked on the AWD Program for the past seven years and have now shifted over to Future Submarines.

I am still surprised just how little the greater SA population realises that submarines along with frigates and a continuous ship building program will be a game changer for SA.
Techport was always designed to have a supplier base set up on site - why would they spend money and establish themselves for three ships.
However with all the work coming up, we will see companies establish in the SA market.
Obviously the PSI and CSI for all programs would be looking at Australian Industry Involvement - lets hope that a majority of those car component manufacturers can transfer to advanced component manufacture.

As far as future submarine sustainment is concerned, stating that it could go interstate is scaremongering as the sustainment concept would be in its extreme infancy. You gotta love the Tiser.

[rev]

So has the Australian Maritime Technical College opened its doors yet?
It was supposed to open January 1st 2018 at a cost of $25 million of tax payers money, according to Christopher Pyne.

[Spurdo]

Construction appears to have started on the shipyard expansion project. Mersey Road North has been closed near the west entrance to the shipyard for the two sites to be combined.

[rev]

Chinese company Landbridge at centre of Darwin Port security scare meets SA Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith in a play for SA’s Flinders Ports

A CHINESE corporation that sparked a global diplomatic incident expressed interest in securing a stake in SA’s Flinders Ports, which controls a crucial Port Adelaide site near where the $50 billion future submarines will be built.

The Advertiser can reveal retiring Trade and Investment Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith and SA Government bureaucrats met senior managers of the Chinese company, Landbridge, last Sep­tember, for a meeting that included representatives from the Chinese consulate-general.

Landbridge was at the ­centre of an international incident in 2015 when it acquired Darwin Port from the Northern Territory government.

The sale led the then US president Barack Obama to chide Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for permitting the deal and sparked a major Federal Government review into the oversight of critical infrastructure.

At the meeting in a restaurant in Adelaide’s Chinatown, Landbridge raised its strong interest in making an investment in Flinders Ports.

Landbridge’s billionaire owner and president Ye Cheng, a national committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was also present, along with Darwin Port operators.

Flinders Ports has seven operations in SA, of which Port Adelaide’s inner harbour is its biggest.

The meeting has sparked a warning from one of the country’s top security experts that the State Government could compromise SA’s future bids for defence construction contracts by adopting a naive attitude about the operation and ambition of Chinese-backed companies.

Both the State Government and Flinders Ports say no formal “proposal” for an investment in the company has been made, but remain tight-lipped about details of the meeting.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings, formerly a senior defence department official and prime ministerial adviser, said the Port Adelaide site was one of Australia’s most sensitive and of “extremely high interest to Chinese intelligence”.

Mr Jennings said the Darwin Port sale to Landbridge was a “stuff-up of Keystone Kops proportions” that should have put other governments on red alert. Any Chinese attempt to take an interest in SA infrastructure would attract close Federal Government scrutiny, he said.

“With regard to the submarine construction (nearby), we really are talking about the jewel in the crown of sensitive technology,” Mr Jennings said.

“The port would also be of extremely high interest to Chinese intelligence, because they are actively out there looking for any advantage they can have in terms of intellectual property theft, to get it for themselves.

“If you have got something that is within visual range, that also means it is an area from which you can have a wide array of electronic eavesdropping technology used to gather data from the Osborne construction site. That would automatically put up a major red flag.”

In 2015, Mr Hamilton-Smith and Premier Jay Weatherill publicly declared their intention to work more closely with Chinese Communist Party officials in SA’s sister state of Shandong.

In what they heralded as a “landmark agreement” between SA and Shandong’s Communist Party Secretary Jiang Yikang, the pair signed a “Friendly Co-operation Action Plan”.

Mr Weatherill said that “Shandong is our window into China and equally we are encouraging Shandong to see SA as their window into Australia”. Mr Hamilton-Smith said “the Shandong Landbridge Group will be investigating opportunities in port infrastructure and wine”.

In 2013, Mr Ye was reportedly cited by the Shandong Communist Party committee as one of 10 outstanding individuals in the province concerned with national defence construction.

Landbridge recently acquired the Rymill Coonawarra winery for $13.2 million. The deal came under scrutiny from SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines, who cleared Mt Gambier Mayor Andrew Lee but said he “walked a very fine ethical line” in helping broker the deal.

That inquiry received evidence that Mr Lee met Landbridge’s Mr Ye in China in 2015 and was told of his plans to “build high-class accommodation and also a port” in SA.

He also visited Adelaide in 2015 to scope investments, before the NT deal went public.

Mr Jennings said SA could lose defence contracts if seen to be compromised by China.

“For any large-scale Chinese company to prosper, it needs the closest possible relations with the Communist Party at both provincial and national levels and, of course, Landbridge does,” he said.

“The SA Government should think about this very carefully from the point of view of how they want to position the state as a leading defence manufacturer in the country.”

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... e903653f6e

Hopefully the federal government has the good sense to block it this time like they should have blocked the Chicoms in Darwin.
Otherwise I can see them playing the national security card and not building the subs or even future frigates here. Then say goodnight to the SA defence industry.

[rev]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/ ... 618156dead

$700 million defence contract with Lockheed Martin will deliver 200 jobs for future submarines project in South Australia
Tory Shepherd, State Editor, The Advertiser
January 24, 2018 11:30pm
Subscriber only

200 ASC shipbuilding jobs saved as workers moved to submarines
Feds to spend $30m to keep shipbuilding at ASC
Pyne reveals vision for export version of SA subs
Lessons learnt from missing Argentinian sub
Liberals pledge to get more veterans into new jobs

A $700 MILLION contract to fit combat systems into Australia’s future submarines has been signed and is set to deliver 200 jobs, mostly in SA.

Federal Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne will today announce the deal with Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed will partner with French shipbuilders Naval Group to integrate a system described as the sub’s “eyes, ears and sword”.

Mr Pyne said most of the 200 jobs created would be in SA, and declared the contract signing a “milestone”.

“These are hi-tech manufacturing jobs of the future, the jobs the Turnbull Government has committed to creating as part of our historic $200 billion defence investment over the next decade,” he said. There will be many more to come.
Concept image of DCNS’ Shortfin Barracuda submarine.

“(This) marks a further step forward in our partnership with Lockheed Martin Australia in delivering a fleet of regionally superior submarines to Australia. “This contract will cover work to 2022, including the design of the combat system and procurement activities to select subsystem and component suppliers.”

Mr Pyne said the contract signing was further proof that the project “remains on time and on budget”.

SA Best Senator Rex Patrick has warned of potential delays in the project, pointing to two plans that have not yet been finalised, but the Department of Defence says there are no delays in key milestones and no cost impacts.

The combat system uses the sub’s many sensors to collect data, which it processes as part of its control of the sub’s missiles and torpedoes.
0:00
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1:11
Smart SA: Defence jobs boom for South Australia

Lockheed Martin will integrate the United States’ AB/BYG-1 Tactical Weapon Control System into the twelve new subs to create the Future Submarine’s system.

The US system is used currently on the Collins class submarine, and on the US’s Virginia-class nuclear submarines. The Future Submarines will feature an evolved version combined with other elements.

Australian defence scientists have been working with the US on the Tactical Weapon Control System, which will form the heart of the new system.

Naval Group and Lockheed Martin will work together, with Naval Group doing the physical integration of the equipment and Lockheed working out the information integration.
Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne at ASC’s Osborne Naval Shipyard. Picture: AAP / Ben Macmahon

Mr Pyne said Lockheed Martin had already worked with Defence on the initial design work for the combat system. The company edged out Raytheon for this contract, and the work could ultimately be worth billions of dollars.

“This Future Submarine Combat System Design, Build and Integration Contract is another example of the Turnbull Government’s commitment to Australia’s defence industry, and an on-schedule achievement in the delivery of Australia’s future naval shipbuilding capability,” Mr Pyne said.

[Pistol]

We made the news

[Spurdo]

Future Frigates: Italian bidder Fincantieri would help Australia build and export own ships
Cameron England, Genoa, The Advertiser
February 4, 2018 9:37pm
Subscriber only

THE Italian bidder for the $35 billion Future Frigates program has a “precise industry plan” that would make Australia capable of designing and exporting its own ships, above and beyond the military shipbuilding program, it says.

Fincantieri has also revealed in briefings in Italy it expects to announce a winning bidder, or bidders, to build three cruise ship “blocks” in South Australia around the end of this month.

The company announced the cruise ship block build last year, and selected four SA companies — ASC Shipbuilding, Adelaide Ship Construction International, MG Engineering and Whyalla-based Ottoway Engineering — to bid to build the three, 50-100 tonne blocks, each about the size of a tennis court, which will be incorporated into a new cruise ship.

The block build is expected to create 40-50 jobs and is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year.

Fincantieri is one of three global defence companies, including British company BAE Systems and Spanish company Navantia, which are bidding for the SEA 5000 Future Frigates contract, which the Federal Government is expected to award by mid-year.

The program to build nine frigates is part of the overall $89 billion national shipbuilding program, which includes the Future Submarines program, which will start in Adelaide in the mid 2020s and the offshore patrol vessel build. The first two OPVs will be built in Adelaide starting this year before that program moves to Western Australia.

Fincantieri Australia chairman Dario Deste said it was possible that steel from the Liberty OneSteel’s Whyalla steelworks could be used for the Future Frigate build.

If the Italian company were to win the bid, there would be an immediate rapid recruitment drive, with Mr Deste saying the ramp up of engineering was going to be “massive”.

“More than 150 Australians are intended to join the Italian Fremm project from 2018 in Italy, to train with Fincantieri, before returning to Australia to lead the project,’’ briefing documents say.

“More than a single shipbuilding project, Fincantieri plans to transfer the knowledge and technology to enable Australia to design and build naval vessels as a sovereign nation.

“From day one of the project, engineers and technicians will be trained, new factories and equipment built, and shipbuilding knowledge passed to Australian institutions and companies.

“The development of this new industry, will enable Australia to move beyond ship-assembly and maintenance, to design and build the internal equipment and components of naval vessels, ultimately developing and designing new naval vessels.

“Over the next 10 years Australia can double its advanced manufacturing capability for naval vessels and have the design and integration know-how to go with it.”

The company envisages also building non-naval vessels such as ferries, offshore oil and gas vessels and cruise ships for the export market also.

The Fincantieri plan to focus on exports as well as the domestic naval build ties in with the new Defence Export Strategy announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently, which aims to “grow Australia’s defence industry to become a top ten global defence exporter” by 2028.

A key element of the Italian pitch is that they have already delivered six Fremm frigates to the Italian navy, with a seventh — Marceglia — launched at the Riva Trigoso Shipyard over the weekend.

As such, it is expected that the production issues which affected the early Air Warfare Destroyers built at the Osborne shipyards by ASC, using a Navantia design would be avoided.

But Mr Deste was adamant that military vessels were just the start for Fincantieri in Australia, with the company aiming to make Adelaide a shipbuilding and mechanical equipment hub for the region.

While the company had 20 shipyards worldwide, including five in Norway and two in the US above and beyond its Italian presence, it did not have a large presence in Asia.

Fincantieri executive vice president naval vessels business unit Angelo Fusco said military shipbuilding was a great base to build exports, but “we see this program as a ramp for other activities”.

Mr Deste said the block build was a sign that Fincantieri, which already has an Adelaide office, was “very serious’’.

“There is a precise industry plan behind it.

“And when we talk about transfer of technology we are not talking about only being able to build the Fremm. We want a transfer of technology where Australia will be able to design their ship, any kind of ship … that’s our commitment.’’

Mr Deste said the plan to build a machinery factory, which could build products such as gearboxes, fin stabilisers and turbines, alongside the shipbuilding program, was also a key pillar of the company’s bid.

“It’s a great opportunity for us and for Australia to create a hub for these kinds of products.’’

If it wins the bid for the Future Frigates build, Fincantieri plans to list the local operations on the Australian Securities Exchange, by way on an initial public offer, giving Australians an opportunity to own part of the company.

That listing would be likely to take place once the business was “stable”, Mr Deste said. Fincantieri plans to start cutting steel in 2020 should it win the bid. Fincantieri would retain a controlling stake in the company.

The author travelled to Italy as a guest of Fincantieri

Italian-designed and made in Adelaide

WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR?

The Italian navy has two frigate types, general purpose and anti-submarine warfare.

THEIR DIMENSIONS?

144m long, 19.7m wide. Displacement 6700 tonnes, draft 8.4m.

CREW SIZE? 168

WHO IS FINCANTIERI?

Operator of 20 shipyards globally. Building the FREMM Frigates (the base design for the Australian bid) for Italy’s navy.

WHO’S BIDDING FOR OURS?

Fincantieri, BAE Systems and Navantia are short-listed. A final selection will be made this year.

[rev]

http://www.australiandefence.com.au/new ... pply-chain
https://statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/indu ... l-shipyard

Looks like it's started.

Up-skilling the Australian shipbuilding supply chain
By Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne | 22 March 2018

Dassault Systèmes has created a regional training centre, known as the Virtual Shipyard, in partnership with the South Australian government to ensure that SA’s supply chain is on par with the rest of the world.

[rev]

Subs shed to be bigger than Adelaide Oval
4:21pm Mar 19, 2018

The construction shed for Australia's new fleet of submarines will be bigger than Adelaide Oval, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne says.

The scale of the project will create jobs opportunities in SA, both in construction and the supply of materials, the minister told reporters.

"When the new submarine yard is completed, the shed will actually be bigger than the Adelaide Oval stadium," he said.

"So we're talking about a lot of concrete, steel, cabling, construction jobs and work for decades into the future."

The federal government on Monday signed off on a $7 million contract with services and technology company KBR to design the new construction yard for the 12 submarines in Adelaide.

The design work will support 100 jobs, to add to those already created on the submarine project which the minister said remained on schedule.

Mr Pyne said the construction yard was a vital piece of infrastructure and would sit alongside the surface shipyard, which would deliver the Royal Australian Navy's new frigates.

"KBR has extensive experience in this field and it's great they have partnered with Naval Group Australia to complete the concept design for the state of the art construction yard where our future submarine fleet will be built," he said.

"This program is not only transforming our Navy but changing the lives of Australians by giving them exciting work for decades to come."

Monday's announcement was the first official engagement for new South Australian Premier Steven Marshall, who reaffirmed his intention to take the defence industries portfolio.

Mr Pyne said that sent a clear message to the public and to the defence and business sectors that the new premier was focused on jobs and growth for South Australia.

Mr Marshall said the defence industry was vital to SA's future success.

"We know that there is an enormous opportunity from submarines, from ships, from the offshore patrols vessels that are coming our way and that's why I want to take this important portfolio," he said.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/ ... laide-oval