Eminent Australian political leader Kim Beazley has weighed in on the AUKUS submarine debate, writing that the submarines were necessitated by Australia’s strategic position in our region. Beazley, a former Governor of Western Australia, Ambassador to the United States and federal opposition leader, said Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines would be worth the wait, and the cost.…
Boeing and Australian manufacturer Ferra Engineering have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to continue production of Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range (JDAM ER) wing kits for local and export markets. The companies also plan explore applications for Powered JDAM — a long-range, low-cost and mass-producible JDAM derivative capable of travelling upwards of 300 nautical…
Representatives from the Australian and US submarine support organisations have joined Royal Navy personnel in UK submarine operating base Faslane to understand how to maintain nuclear-powered submarines, which will support future AUKUS nations. Forming an Advance Verification Team (AVT), subject matter experts from all three AUKUS nations joined British shipyard personnel to develop their understanding…
The UK government has awarded £3.95 billion to BAE Systems to further design and engineer the UK’s and potentially Australia’s next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine, SSN-AUKUS. With critical decisions being made on sourcing Michael Slattery looks at the difficulties faced by Australian industry to have a meaningful role in the programme. The latest AUKUS contract for…
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded £3.95 billion of funding to BAE Systems for the next phase of the UK’s next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine programme, the SSN-AUKUS. SSN-AUKUS will be the largest, most powerful and advanced attack submarines the Royal Navy has ever operated, and will eventually replace the Astute class, which BAE Systems…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading. 5) Another battery metals factory lost offshore, more to come While Australia talks the big talk about being a critical minerals and battery metals superpower, backed by the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, Australian metals companies continue to…
The constructor of the United States’ Virginia class submarines Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is the latest company to invest further in Australia on the promise of submarine construction under the AUKUS pact. Babcock International, which has been positioning itself to provide infrastructure for nuclear powered submarines in Perth and Adelaide has combined with Newport News-based…
The Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has again raised hopes the federal government’s Defence Industry Development Strategy now under development will lead to significant investment in Australian manufacturing and its workforce. Speaking at the 2023 Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference, Conroy said the strategy would establish the framework and principles for the direction of…
Metal additive manufacturing company AML3D has announced its second new US submarine construction contract in the same number of days. On Tuesday the company won a contract to develop and test 3D printing copper-nickel (Cu-Ni) components for the US Navy’s submarine programme. The contracts, in tune with the AUKUS agreement, will run parallel with the…
Defence and communications company Electro Optic Systems has demonstrated its high powered laser ‘drone killer’ weapon system in front of an international audience at the company’s Klondyke Range Complex in Western New South Wales. The laser director is shown in the main photograph, mounted on a standard 20 foot container. The directed energy weapon –…