Lockheed Martin Australia has welcomed the signing with the Commonwealth of a $700 million contract for the design, build and integration of the Future Submarine combat system.
The signing follows an earlier contract signing in November 2016 which was for preparatory and initial design work for the project.
“Today’s announcement marks the next phase in the design and delivery of Australia’s future submarine fleet,” Lockheed Martin Australia Chief Executive, Vince Di Pietro AM said in a statement.
“While this contract announcement is a major event, the design of the Future Submarine is already well underway. We have seen great progress over the past 12 months with the establishment of a unified Australian team, the opening of the Cherbourg facility in France and hosting of industry briefings in every state and territory.
“In 2018, this progress will continue,” he added. “We are committed to delivering Australia a regionally superior sovereign submarine capability which will be built, operated and sustained in Australia.
“Lockheed Martin Australia continues to grow our engagement with Australian small to medium enterprises and their participation in equipment programs. The Future Submarine Combat System program is a terrific new addition to our already significant contribution to Australian industry capability.”
Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne added, “Today 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.”