What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) NSW food and beverage makers get gov funding boost NSW Riverina food and beverage makers have had a funding injection from the Minns state government to upgrade their facilities. Australian Juice Processing and Bottling has received $2.5 million for a…
Austal has signed off on a Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement for key Australian naval defence programs.
The Australian Government has approved a Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement with Austal that will establish the company as the Commonwealth’s strategic shipbuilder for Tier 2 surface combatants at Henderson, Western Australia, according to an announcement on Monday. Under the agreement, Austal Defence Shipbuilding Australia, a newly created subsidiary, will become prime contractor for the LAND8710 programs…
The US Navy has exercised $74.4 million (US$48 million) of additional options under a previously awarded contract for shipbuilder Austal to perform maintenance on Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and regional countries. The original 2021 contract to maintain the vessels was for US$72.5m to perform the sustainment works, with…
The federal government has continued a run of announcements of major defence acquisitions, selecting a design by Damen Shipyards Group as the preferred option for the Australian Defence Force’s Landing Craft Heavy vessel (pictured). The announcement is a step in the establishment of a littoral fleet which is expected to create 1,100 direct jobs and…
By Peter Roberts Shipbuilder Austal has again shown at its annual general meeting the folly of Australia’s apparent unconcern should the company fall under foreign ownership. In September Korea’s Hanwha gave up on a takeover of Austal, a deal that was waved through by Defence Minister Richard Marles as of no concern to the government.…
Cold spray additive manufacturing company SPEE3D has shared that shipbuilder Austal USA has purchased a WarpSPEE3D AM unit for application development purposes. In a statement on Wednesday (Melbourne time), SPEE3D said Austal USA’s Advanced Technologies division is “a leader in cutting-edge technology implementation for defense and maritime applications” and heads a team of industry partners…
The US arm of shipbuilder Austal has celebrated the start of construction for a new manufacturing facility for submarine modules (MMF3) at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. This new building, scheduled to be fully operational in late 2026, will significantly increase Austal USA’s capacity to support the U.S. Navy Submarine Industrial Base (SIB). The new…
SwarmFarm Robotics’ farm robot rolls out of new Toowoomba factory Farm robotic vehicle manufacturer SwarmFarm Robotics has released images (pictured) of the very first SwarmBot as it rolled out of the company’s new manufacturing plant in Toowoomba. SwarmBot is an autonomous platform that can be customised for tasks faced in local crop farming systems. SwarmFarm…
The federal government will establish a consolidated Commonwealth-owned Defence Precinct at Western Australia’s Henderson shipyard to underpin continuous naval shipbuilding and nuclear submarine maintenance and support in the order of 10,000 well-paid, high-skilled local jobs. The government will make an initial investment of $127 million over three years to progress planning, consultations, preliminary design and…