Industry Roadshow re Future Frigate and OPV opportunities rolls out

A national roadshow for the Future Frigates and Offshore Patrol Vessels shipbuilding programs kicked off in Adelaide today, designed to help Australian companies get involved in the multibillion dollar projects.

Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne launched the roadshow in Adelaide today, before it heads to Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney.

The minister said the roadshow was an important part of the government’s commitment to local defence industry and growing the Australian supply chain for Australia’s continuous naval shipbuilding effort.

“The Turnbull Government is setting a new direction for the defence industry in Australia and this roadshow is a critical part of greater local business involvement,” he said.

“Where possible and practical, we should use Australian companies to garner both the economic benefits of a thriving domestic defence sector, as well as contributing to the ability of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to respond to Australia’s national security requirements.

“The Future Frigate and Offshore Patrol Vessel programs will directly create over 2500 jobs for Australians and will indirectly support the jobs of many thousands more.

“However, to ensure this occurs, it is critical that we provide Australian companies with opportunities to enter the supply chain,” Mr Pyne said.

“By building and assembling these assets in Australia, the Government is driving jobs and growth in our local defence industry.”

The minister forgot to mention that these programs would also ensure that Australia maintains or reestablishes strategically important sovereign shipbuilding capabilities.

In his address to roadshow attendees this morning, Mr Pyne said that the $35 billion program to build nine anti-submarine-warfare frigates would commence construction in Adelaide by 2020 and the $3-4 billion program to construct 12 Offshore Patrol Vessels would begin in Adelaide in 2018, at the Osborne Shipyard and transition to Western Australia.

Minister Pyne encouraged Australian businesses to register with the newly created Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC) to be in the best position to benefit from Australia’s naval shipbuilding program.

“Headquartered in Adelaide and supported by a state network of advisors, CDIC has been established to provide new ways for Defence and industry to work together and will ensure a closer alignment between industry’s investment in future skills and Defence’s capability needs,” Mr Pyne said.

Businesses can register their interest in SEA5000 on the CDIC website by visiting www.business.gov.au/CDIC

For details on the dates and locations of the Future Frigate and Offshore Patrol Vessel Roadshow, visit www.eventbrite.com.au/o/department-of-defence-11842283748 .

Australia’s ANZAC-class frigates are planned to be withdrawn from the mid-2020s with at least some of the ANZAC ships likely to require a modest life extension, to avoid a capability gap in the transition to the ‘Future Frigate’.

 

Future Frigates

• First pass approval for the Future Frigates was announced in April this year.
• Three designers – BAE Systems with the Type 26 Frigate; Fincantieri with the FREMM Frigate, and Navantia with a redesigned F100 –  have been short-listed to refine their designs.
• The frigates will all be built in Adelaide, incorporating the Australian-developed CEA Phased-Array Radar.
• The Competitive Evaluation Process is on schedule to return second pass approval in 2018, which will allow for construction to commence in Adelaide in 2020.
• This program is estimated to cost more than $35 billion.

 

Offshore Patrol Vessels

• First pass approval for the Offshore Patrol Vessels was announced in April this year.
• Construction to begin in Adelaide from 2018, following the completion of the Air Warfare Destroyers and transfer to Western Australia when the Future Frigate construction begins in Adelaide in 2020.
• Three designers have been shortlisted; Damen of the Netherlands, Fassmer of Germany, and Lurssen of Germany.
• This program is estimated to cost more than $3 billion.

 

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