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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
18 Dec 24. UK looks to protect funding for rapid Watchkeeper UAV replacement. Lt. Gen. Robert Magowan did not elaborate further on the replacement effort but did note that the Watchkeeper retirement will allow the MoD to still save “quite a lot of money” that would otherwise go toward support costs for the aircraft.
British Army Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Systems are set to be axed from service next year as part of defense cuts. (UK MoD)
BELFAST — The United Kingdom has learned from watching Ukraine that its Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle is “no longer fit for operational purpose,” but the ministry of defense is committed to protecting funding that will go towards its replacement, according to a senior official.
“We are working really hard with the army and ensuring they’re funded to deliver the sorts of drone capability in 2025 to replace the drone [Watchkeeper] that’s being retired,” Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Capability) Lt. Gen. Robert Magowan told lawmakers from the UK Defence Committee on Tuesday.
In November, London said it had decided to scrap 46 of the British Army medium-altitude, long-endurance intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) drones as part of sweeping equipment cuts aimed at delivering savings of £500 million ($632 million) over the next five years.
Magowan’s comments on the lack of operational utility offered by Watchkeeper are in keeping with those of John Healey, UK Secretary of Defence, who justified the early retirement of the aircraft on grounds that “technology has overtaken” it.
Magowan did not elaborate further on the replacement effort but did note that the Watchkeeper retirement will allow the MoD to still save “quite a lot of money” that would otherwise go toward support costs for the aircraft.
As previously reported, the Watchkeeper program has suffered years of delays, cost overruns and a series of test and operational crashes. As of September 2022, the UK had spent £1.31 billion on the program, according to a lawmaker statement. It initially entered service in 2014, supporting Afghanistan force protection efforts, but has rarely been deployed on military operations since that conflict. In October, Watchkeeper was operated with upgraded sensors in Estonia, as part of Exercise Athena Shield, according to a British Army statement. (Thales UK, manufacturer of the Watchkeeper, told FlightGlobal in November that while London’s decision to cut the platform was “disappointing,” the company said it was “proud of Watchkeeper’s success in Afghanistan, support to Border Force and, most recently, being deployed in Estonia.”)
Elsewhere in Tuesday’s hearing, lawmaker questions prompted additional revelations from Magowan across a number of other key programs, including plans to replace 17 Royal Air Force-operated Puma medium lift helicopters, also axed under the latest round of military cuts.
He said that a “range of capabilities” are currently being explored that could “plug gaps” when the rotorcraft, which are permanently based in Brunei and Cyprus, are retired in March 2025. The UK has already committed to the acquisition of six Airbus H145 Jupiter helicopters to replace the Puma’s in 2026, so it appears that Magowan is suggesting an interim or stop-gap acquisition could be approved. He did not share additional details.
The Puma’s premature withdrawal from service from Brunei and Cyprus has previously drawn concern from Airbus. In November, the company noted in response to the move that, though it welcomes the H145 business, “we regret the likely impact on the UK’s defence industrial base, with the potential loss of skilled engineering roles and wider consequences for the aerospace supply chain.”
Magowan also said that the £1 billion ($1.3 billion) New Medium Helicopter (NMH) program, designed to source a successor for a separate fleet of Puma aircraft, is “playing out now,” adding “there’s one bidder left and that bidder has significant investment in the in the UK.”
The single bidder is presumably a reference to Leonardo, the only manufacturer to put forward a bid after Airbus and Lockheed Martin both walked away from the competition in August because of requirement problems and fears linked to not receiving “adequate long-term returns.”
In a program update last week, Maria Eagle, UK minister for defence procurement, said that “there are no plans to change the extant New Medium Helicopter procurement process.”
She added, “The New Medium Helicopter competition remains sensitive, and the evaluation and approval process must complete before further details, including aircraft numbers, can be confirmed.”
The previous Conservative government had said the procurement could be “up to” 44 airframes, but Breaking Defense has reported industry expects the real number to be around 30 platforms, and FlightGlobal recently reported it could be as few as 23.
NMH contract award is set for next year, but the UK’s Strategic Defense Review (SDR), due for release in mid-2025, could complicate matters because it has been designed to evaluate national defense priorities and equipment planning.
Also in the hearing Magowan said that the BAE Systems Bofors Archer, an interim self-propelled howitzer, is set to enter service with the British Army in “early 2025,” while the UK and Germany are in “close negotiations” on the longer term solution, expected to be the KNDS Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) 52 cal. Wheeled Artillery System. (Source: Google/Breaking Defense.com)
13 Dec 24. The British Army has issued an open invitation for manufacturers to participate in its Drone Effectiveness Workshop, scheduled from 10 to 14 February 2025. The workshop, to be held at MOD Boscombe Down, aims to test the resilience of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) against simulated jamming effects in a controlled environment.
This early engagement opportunity is part of the MOD’s ongoing efforts to assess and improve the operational capabilities of UAS platforms, with up to five UK-registered companies invited to participate.
Participants will have the chance to test their multi-rotor UAS in realistic, simulated environments that emulate jamming effects on GPS, control, and video signals.
The scenarios will simulate a jammer approaching from 10 km to 100 m, while the UAS remains a simulated 20 km from its Ground Control Station (GCS).
Key benefits include:
- Controlled Environment: Testing will take place within a secure indoor facility at Boscombe Down.
- Realistic Scenarios: Simulated jamming across commercial frequencies (2.0-6.0 GHz).
- Performance Analysis: A comprehensive report detailing the effects of jamming on control and operation.
- Actionable Insights: Data to inform design and operational decisions.
Each participating company will be allocated a one-day testing slot and is permitted to bring up to five sub-10 kg UAS platforms for evaluation.
To participate, companies must meet the following requirements:
- UAS platforms must conform to the EASA C4 standard (or equivalent), weigh no more than 10 kg, and feature a multi-rotor design.
- Antennas must be SMA/RP-SMA/U.FL/MMCX to allow for RF attenuator insertion.
- Ground Control Stations (GCS) must have the ability to attenuate power output.
- Companies must provide their own pilot/operators and ensure all personnel meet NATO or MISWG country security clearance standards.
Participating companies will bear their own costs and risks, including transport and personnel requirements. All systems and operators must be delivered to MOD Boscombe Down within the specified timelines.
(Source: forces.net)
17 Dec 24. Crossroads for UK Skynet programme. Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space compete for key WSS satellite capability.
The UK faces a critical decision in potentially adding a new element and industry partner to the existing military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) Skynet capability through its multi-bn-pound Wideband Satellite System (WSS) requirement.
Skynet 6 is the next generation MILSATCOM constellation, and by far the UK’s largest space project.
In 2022, £1.4bn ($1.78bn) was promised for a range of British space capabilities over the following ten years, while £5bn was allocated to the UK’s Skynet capability.
Within Skynet, the WSS contract provides at least three tranches of wideband geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems, ground equipment, and launch operations. The requirement includes high availability, military hardened satellite systems, incorporating X-Band and Mil-Ka payloads.
This capability will operate for at least 15 years into the 2040s. WSS procurement alone will cost somewhere between £1.5bn and £2bn.
The UK first launched WSS on 31 May 2023 while an invitation to tender was issued on 14 November that same year. In 2024, the UK Ministry of Defence downselected three competitors: Airbus Defence and Space UK, Lockheed Martin UK, and Thales Alenia Space UK. However, the former two tenders are the only two companies left in the running.
It is anticipated the UK will move to select a single tender by Q4 2025.
Airbus is already contracted to build initial Skynet 6 satellites, which are based on the company’s Eurostar Neo platform. The 6A satellite is booked to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2025.
Crucially, Skynet 6 will adhere to the concept ‘allied by design’, which hinges on the continued engagement with Nato, Five Eyes and other mission partners. This will ensure that Skynet maintains and extends interoperability with allies, according to UK government information.
In the past, Skynet 5 has been used by other partners and allies too, including Estonia and the US.
Furthermore, UK defence procurement will tend to prioritise bids that can offer a significant domestic contribution. In this case, Airbus already builds spacecraft in Stevenage and Portsmouth while Thales Alenia Space own two industrial plants in Bristol and Harwell.
Past UK defence contracts similarly indicate the requirement of domestic manufacturing too, including the ongoing New Medium Helicopter (NMH) acquisition for which the government asserted:
“The NMH contract will secure the vital operational independence the UK requires, as well as investing in UK skills for the long-term.”
Lockheed Martin, the parent group of Sikorsky, a competitor that pulled out of the NMH competition, told Airforce Technology at the time that they “elected not to submit a response to the NMH [invitation to negotiate] as we could not meet its minimum requirements in today’s market conditions.”
What lessons for the UK from Australia?
As the UK looks to develop its WSS requirement, fellow Five Eyes member Australia cancelled its Joint Project (JP) 9102 end-to-end MILSATCOM network programme in November 2024 after just 18 months, a strategic and technical capability similar to that being sought by the UK.
Officially, Australia cited a shift in programme requirements as reasoning for the cancellation, which was thought to be valued in the bns of Australian dollars and part of the wider A$9-12bn space-based Integrated Investment Programme. Lockheed Martin was the contractor charged with delivering the programme.
An end-to-end MILSATCOM solution is a highly complex undertaking, including spacecraft, ground systems, and services.
Lockheed Martin has an expansive portfolio in space, having built more than 300 mission payloads for customers. This includes the LM 400 satellite bus, which provides a range of services both military and civil, including communications.
Although unconfirmed, the similarity between the Australian and UK programmes could see Lockheed Martin leverage much of its earlier Canberra offering, which was ultimately unsuccessful as Australia’s government changed its requirement from a single orbit (GEO) system to prioritise a multi-orbital capability.
Lockheed Martin won the Australia programme against competition from Airbus, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Optus in April 2023.
Australia typically leans towards a cautious approach to defence procurement, tending to avoid buying first-of-type and preferring to wait for proven capability. From the very start of the process, risk would indeed have been a factor under consideration.
When asked for comment on the Australian JP9102 contract and its offering to the UK through WSS, the company stated: “Lockheed Martin will continue to support the Australian government to meet its strategic needs and is proud to be partnering with the Australian Defence Force on many ongoing programmes.
“We are committed to our global customer community and will continue partnering with international customers and suppliers to support their missions and boost their national space economy.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
EUROPE
13 Dec 24. Greece to buy artillery systems from Israel and drones from US, officials say. Greece is in advanced talks to buy 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel as it pushes to modernise its armed forces, two officials said on Friday. The discussions on the 600-700m euro ($630m-$735m) deal come as the countries are in negotiations for Israel to sell Greece a 2-bn-euro anti-aircraft and missile defence dome. Greece’s government will submit the deal to a parliamentary committee for approval in the first quarter of 2025, the officials said.
Athens has drafted a multi-bn, 10-year purchasing plan that also includes acquiring up to 40 new F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. and four frigates from France.
The PULS system, made by Israel’s Elbit (ESLT.TA) has a range of up to 300 km (190 miles), the officials said. The deal also includes the construction of components in Greece.
One of the officials added that on Friday, the country’s top decision-making body on foreign affairs and defence matters, KYSEA, approved the procurement of US-made Switchblade drones, made by AeroVironment, (AVAV.O).
Most of the new artillery systems will protect Greece’s northeastern borders with Turkey and its islands in the Aegean, a second official said.
Greece and Turkey, NATO allies, have long been at odds over issues including where their continental shelves start and end, energy resources, flights over the Aegean, and the ethnically partitioned island of Cyprus. ($1 = 0.9535 euros) (Source: Reuters)
USA
18 Dec 24. Cuashub.com said today that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt orders procurement of counter-UAS detection systems. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced in a statement on Monday, December 16 that he has instructed the Department of Public Safety to begin the procurement of C-UAS detection systems.
Governor Stitt has directed Tim Tipton, Commissioner of Public Safety and Homeland Security Advisor, to immediately begin procuring mobile C-UAS detection systems to support state and local law enforcement, giving them the ability to detect and identify UAS activity.
Whilst he recognized the positive impact drones and UAS have in Oklahoma, Governor Stitt emphasized the need to “ensure Oklahomans are protected from those who would use this technology to harm others.”
Commissioner Tipton noted the “unsettling” nature of the widely-reported recent drone activity in New Jersey and around the US. He noted that Oklahoma itself has only reported a handful of incidents, but that this procurement of mobile C-UAS detection systems allows the state to be “ready in case the need arises.” He further emphasised that he is “glad Governor Stitt takes this threat seriously and will equip the Department of Public Safety adequately.”
Currently, Federal Law classifies drones as a form of aircraft, meaning they are protected from being shot down by local law enforcement agencies without certain permissions. The procurement of mobile detection systems will now allow the Department of Public Safety to monitor and identify UAS without destroying them, and if they are deemed a threat to Oklahoma’s critical infrastructure then appropriate next steps can be made.
This latest move to expand C-UAS capabilities follows from several recent initiatives in the State of Oklahoma, with the Oklahoma National Guard (OKNG) hosting representatives from state, education and the defence industry to discuss C-UAS systems on November 7. Oklahoma is also home to several agencies dedicated to C-UAS, including the Counter-UAS Center of Excellence at Oklahoma State University, and the Joint Counter Small UAS University (JCU) at the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill. https://cuashub.com/en/content/oklahoma-govenor-orders-procurement-of-c-uas-systems/ (Source: https://cuashub.com/)
18 Dec 24. US Navy “wasted” billions on Ticonderoga cruiser LIFEX: GAO.
Delays, cost overruns, poor quality work, and reduced inspections all contributed to programme failure, the GAO has reported.
USS Hue City, pictured in 2013, was one of the vessels to have undergone modernisation but quickly divested. Credit: US Navy
The US Navy’s shambolic efforts to modernise its diminished fleet of Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers have been laid bare in an excoriating report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), which details the spend of billions of dollars on a programme that has failed to deliver.
Published on 17 December 2024, the GAO report states the US Navy programme to modernise its Ticonderoga class required the spend of bns of dollars in a bid to extend individual ship’s service life by five years, rather than retire them from the fleet.
However, only three of 11 cruisers will complete the process and will not spend as much time at sea as intended. The three cruisers – USS Gettysburg, USS Chosin, and USS Cape St George – are planned to be divested in the 2026 and 2027 financial years having undergone a combined $1.9bn outlay.
In addition, four of the modernised cruisers, the USS Hue City, USS Anzio, USS Cowpens, and USS Vicksburg, were decommissioned between 2022 and 2024 having undergone a total of $1.8bn in modernisation works.
An initial plan would have seen 11 Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers undergo a modernisation and service life extension programme, although this was cut to seven vessels in 2017.
Among issued uncovered during the investigation were “schedule delays, wasted costs, and poor-quality work”, the GAO stated, adding that “weak oversight” contributed to the problems.
“Navy leadership discouraged the use of key quality control tools. For example, leadership discouraged the use of monetary penalties, so contractors weren’t always held accountable for their late and sometimes poor-quality work,” the GAO reported.
Providing examples of modernisation failure, the GAO reported that contractors performed “poor work” on the sonar dome of USS Vicksburg, resulting in additional costs and schedule delays. In addition, USS Vicksburg was provided new weapons operating stations that were not installed years after having been delivered. (Source: naval-technology.com)
17 Dec 24. Landing Ship Medium Program Stalled Over Price, Navy Cancels Industry RFP. The development of a new landing ship key to the Marines Corps’ island-hopping strategy in the Western Pacific is on hold due to Navy concerns over cost, USNI News has learned.
After receiving bids from industry, the Navy canceled the request for proposals for the Landing Ship Medium, a beachable platform crucial to how the Marine Corps envisions itself operating in a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific under its Force Design plans.
“We had a bulletproof – or what we thought – cost estimate, pretty well wrung out design in terms of requirements, independent cost estimates,” Assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition Nickolas Guertin said at an American Society of Naval Engineers symposium last week.
“We put it out for bid and it came back with a much higher price tag,” he added. “We simply weren’t able to pull it off. So we had to pull that solicitation back and drop back and punt.”
A Marine Corps spokesman acknowledged the difficulty in developing an affordable platform that can effectively shuttle Marines around islands and shorelines. For now, to quickly get the Marines a ship that can move them around the region, the Navy plans to buy a “non-developmental vessel” while it works on the requirements, Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan told USNI News last week.
“The Marine Corps and Navy are currently working to create an acquisition way ahead for LSM Block I that includes a schedule, cost estimate, and detailed requirements,” Flanagan said. “Affordability and delivery schedule are key factors in pursuing littoral maneuver in support of [stand-in forces]. As with all modernization efforts, our capabilities must be pursued within affordability constraints.”
NAVSEA Image
Requirements churn and disagreements between the Navy and Marine Corps over a path forward have plagued the Landing Ship Medium for several years, since the program was previously called the Light Amphibious Warship. While the Marine Corps has pushed for a more affordable ship that’s built to commercial standards, the Navy’s requirements for improved survivability have increased the cost.
The idea was for the Navy to buy a smaller, less expensive amphibious ship that could shuttle Marines around islands as they set up ad-hoc bases on islands and fire weaponry like anti-ship missiles in a potential conflict and quickly move to new locations. The Marines Corps has converted two of three planned Marine Littoral Regiments that would rely on the LSMs to move across the Pacific.
At a lower price point, the Navy could buy more ships, and current requirements call for 18 to 35 LSMs. The Congressional Budget Office projected the lead ship in the class costing anywhere from $460 to $560 m, according to an April report. If the Navy buys the 18 to 35 ships according to current plans, each hull could cost $340 to $430 m. Initial plans in 2020 called for each ship to cost $100 to $150 m.
While the ship is a key part of the Marine Corps’ Force Design strategy, any platform that fulfills the requirement will get purchased out of the Navy shipbuilding account. With mounting bills to pay out of the shipbuilding budget – including submarines, destroyers and cruisers – the amphibious warships remain a lower priority.
Last fall, the Navy put out a request for proposals out to the shipbuilders after finalizing requirements for the Landing Ship Medium earlier in 2023, USNI News reported at the time. Those requirements called for a platform that could haul 75 Marines and 600 tons of equipment, and have a cargo area of about 8,000 square feet, a helicopter pad, a 70-person crew, spots for six .50-caliber guns and two 30mm guns.
“Specific configuration details will be determined during the detailed design phase, but generally the ship will be less than 400 feet long, have a draft of less than 12 feet, an endurance speed of 14 knots, and roll on/roll off beaching capability,” Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News at the time.
The wide range of capabilities that last year’s RFP asked the shipbuilders to provide in the proposal may have increased the cost, according to Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel who is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“At the high end, it was almost an [tank landing ship] kind of vessel, something about the size of a World War II LST,” Cancian told USNI News. “And of course at the low end, something quite small. When you give bidders that much range, you’re naturally going to get pushed to the high end. So I’m not surprised.”
Naval analyst Bryan Clark said the Marine Corps was willing to accept more risk to the platform in exchange for cost savings, but the Navy’s standards for warships prevent the services from going down this path.
“The way the Navy manages programs – shipbuilding programs in particular – is you’ve got the people that enforce technical standards have a veto over what the program managers do in terms of establishing requirements for the ship,” Clark told USNI News.
The Navy’s Fiscal Year 2025 shipbuilding request, unveiled earlier this year, asked to buy one Landing Ship Medium. Congressional authorizers approved the purchase of the ship in their National Defense Authorization Act agreement. The policy bill includes a provision that fences funding for the program until the Navy secretary verifies the “basic and functional design” of the ship. That provision is waived if the Navy pursues a commercial platform or a “nondevelopmental item,” according to the legislation.
Meanwhile, House defense appropriators cut most of the funding the Navy sought to buy the first Landing Ship Medium, while Senate defense appropriators allotted the $268 m the service asked for in the budget proposal. It’s unclear what the final defense spending bill will do to the program.
For now, the Marine Corps is leasing a stern landing vessel so it can experiment with a platform similar to a future Landing Ship Medium. The Marines took a modified offshore supply vessel, known as the Resolution, and are leasing it from Hornbeck Offshore Services so they can perform water testing and work out the requirements for a future LSM.
The Marines are already manning the units that would operate from the LSMs. The service converted its Hawaii-based regiment to the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment in 2022 and one of its Okinawa-based regiments to the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment in 2023.
“The Navy and Marine Corps are committed to delivering a timely, affordable, littoral maneuver solution, which requires alignment of capabilities, resources, acquisition, and Congressional support,” Flanagan told USNI News.
“The Marine Corps is looking to leverage existing commercial and military capabilities that require minimal modification and can provide sustainment and littoral mobility.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/USNI)
17 Dec 24. U.S. GAO Denies Protest of $990m Switchblade Systems Contract. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied the protest filed on September 6, 2024, challenging the U.S. Army’s sole-source award of a $990 m contract for AV’s Switchblade systems.
“AV remains steadfast in our commitment to fulfilling this important contract and upholding our mission to provide innovative, relevant, and effective capabilities to those who serve and defend freedom”
Post this
This decision reaffirms confidence in the integrity of the Army’s procurement process and its thorough evaluation of operational requirements. AV is proud to continue delivering these combat-proven, mission-critical Switchblade systems to meet the warfighter’s operational needs.
“AV remains steadfast in our commitment to fulfilling this important contract and upholding our mission to provide innovative, relevant, and effective capabilities to those who serve and defend freedom,” said Wahid Nawabi, AV’s Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.
(Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
13 Dec 24. US Army issues RFI for mobile UAS integrated defeat system. The US government is conducting market research for the rapid development, deployment, and continued support of the US Army Mobile Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS).
“The US Army has a need to develop, produce, and maintain countermeasures against enemy-armed and intelligence gathering UAS’s operating at various speeds and altitudes which are targeting both US and their allies’ interests at home and abroad,” the Request for Information (RFI) states.
“Current M-LIDS systems consist of Coyote Missiles with launchers, a 30 mm cannon, a .50 caliber gun, an M240 7.62mm crew served weapon, an Electronic Warfare (EW) system, an Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) camera and a Ku-band Radio Frequency System (KuRFS) radar under the control of a Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) system mounted on a M-ATV vehicle.”
The RFI states that future variants will be configured on a single vehicle such as a Stryker. All variants should be capable of identifying and defeating Group 1 through Group 3 drone threats. The system should also be capable of integrating additional sensors and effectors.
Among other requirements, interested parties must have sufficient engineering expertise to support the integration of the overall system as well as provide development activities to include both hardware and software capabilities. They should also possess or have access to a facility capable of testing capability at the system and component level.
Interested firms are invited to indicate their interest by January 24, 2025.
For more information: US Army RFI at SAM.gov (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
REST OF THE WORLD
17 Dec 24. Commonwealth, industry partners reach SSN-AUKUS agreement.
The Australian and UK governments have formalised the agreement between the Australian Submarine Agency and industry partners BAE Systems and ASC to support the delivery of Australia’s fleet of nuclear-powered, SSN-AUKUS submarines.
The Australian and UK governments have reached a major milestone in the partnership between the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) and key industry partners, advancing the delivery of the SSN-AUKUS fleet – conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines – for the Royal Australian Navy.
The ASA, BAE Systems, and ASC Pty Ltd have signed a tasking statement, a contractual agreement focused on developing a build strategy, supply chain management plans, and a workforce development strategy.
Stuart Whiley, chief executive officer and managing director of ASC, welcomed this milestone achievement, saying, “The tasking statement is an important step in establishing a sovereign nuclear submarine build capability in Australia. The program is anticipated to generate thousands of highly skilled jobs over its lifetime.”
Over the past eight months, government and industry partners have achieved significant progress in delivering the SSN-AUKUS program. In November, the ASA, BAE Systems, and ASC formalised an AUKUS mobilisation deed, establishing a framework for contracting with the Australian government through the ASA.
Steve Timms, managing director, BAE Systems’ submarines business, said, “SSN AUKUS is our contribution to the critical tri-national security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US. The safe build, test and commissioning of nuclear submarines is a hugely complex engineering endeavour and through these agreements, we’re able to share our vast experience of nuclear submarine capabilities with our industry partners to support the build of submarines in Australia.”
This followed the heads of agreement and the trilateral announcement of Australia’s designated shipbuilders in March.
Meanwhile, Craig Lockhart, chief executive officer, BAE Systems Australia, added, “Focused on stealth and endurance, the SSN AUKUS submarine will integrate cutting-edge technologies and advanced materials to enable it to operate the full spectrum of underwater missions, from advanced intelligence and surveillance through to underwater warfare.”
This announcement comes while Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong are currently in the United Kingdom, meeting with their UK counterparts, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey.
As part of the joint statement on the 2024 Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) meetings, the partners recognised the “significance of the mobilisation agreement signed last month between the Australian Submarine Agency, BAE Systems Australia Submarines Pty Ltd and ASC SSN AUKUS Pty Ltd which will ensure work to build Australia’s SSN-AUKUS submarines can commence as quickly as possible”.
In addition to this, the joint ministerial statement added, “They welcomed the announcement of the first tasking statements contracted underneath the tripartite mobilisation agreement on 16 December 2024, enabling the ASA, BAE Systems Australia Submarines Pty Ltd and ASC SSN-AUKUS Pty Ltd to work together to develop detailed plans, schedules and workforce initiatives for the Australian build program of the SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine. Ministers also welcomed the wide range of initiatives to deliver a more resilient and prosperous trilateral submarine supply chain in the UK and Australia, particularly including the initiation of the UK-focused effort under the AUKUS Defence Industry Vendor Qualification program.”
Integrated project teams are now in place to manage key tasks, including nuclear stewardship, infrastructure requirements, business enablement and build preparation. Supporting functions – such as nuclear safety and assurance, engineering, and build operations – have also been established to ensure program success. (Source: Defence Connect)
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