The federal government has moved to ensure Australian-made steel will be used in the construction of Australia’s conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines when they are built at Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide, subject to a qualification process. The Australian Submarine Agency has entered into a contract with Australian steel manufacturer, Bisalloy Steels, for the qualification of Australian…
Republicans and Democrats have agreed to sell three Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s according to reports. The agreement would see the sale added to the US Congress’s National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024. Democratic congressman Joe Courtney said: “For the first time since the launch of the USS…
The AUKUS partners Australia the United States and the United Kingdom have entered into an agreement to advance Australia’s defence space capabilities – but there is no immediate role for local industry in the project. At the second AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting in California, ministers discussed accelerating capabilities that provide all three partners with timely…
The University of Adelaide has received a federal government commitment to fund the training of hundreds more domestic undergraduate students to join the nuclear-related defence workforce of the future. Under the Federal Government’s Nuclear-Powered Submarines (NPS) programme the university has been allocated of $38,634,835 between 2024 and 2030 to deliver an additional 700 Commonwealth Supported…
Australian owned munitions manufacturer NIOA Group has taken up a tenancy at the United States Army’s Joint Centre of Excellence for ammunition and weapons, Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The further expansion into the US follows NIOA’s 100 per cent acquisition earlier this year of Tennessee-based Barrett Firearms, and shows a determination to significantly enter…
The federal government has introduced the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bill 2023, which will establish a new, independent regulator to ensure Australia applies the highest standards of nuclear safety across its nuclear-powered submarine enterprise and can continue to implement AUKUS without delay. This is the second legislative package introduced to support implementation of the…
Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Australian subsidiary and the South Australian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding at a submarine industry briefing in Adelaide, outlining shared intent “to embark on a cooperative working arrangement”. The MoU was signed through HII’s newly-formed Australian entity, HII Nuclear Australia, and would leverage the American company’s international industry expertise “to…
Australia is a step closer to building conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines after the Australian and South Australian governments reached agreement on a land exchange for the new submarine construction yard at Osborne in Adelaide. The land for the yard, to employ up to 4,000 workers at its peak, will progressively move to the ownership of…
Private sector operated Weapons Research Establishment has invited innovators to contribute to the design and manufacture of a new, cutting-edge AUKUS rifle through an open innovation challenge. The AUKUS Rifle Challenge represents a unique opportunity for researchers, engineers, and manufacturers to contribute to the development of cutting-edge firearms that can enhance the effectiveness of armed…
A consortium of UNSW Sydney, the University of Adelaide and Curtin University, as well as defence contractors Babcock Australasia and Huntington Ingalls Industries – collectively known as the the AUKUS Workforce Alliance (AWA) – has been announced, coinciding with the first day of the 2023 Indo Pacific International Maritime Expo. According to a statement from…
