Stephen Mullighan MP
Minister for Defence and Space Industries

The first South Australian based manufacturers in line to help build US nuclear-powered submarines are a step closer to joining the supply chain, after securing a Newport News Shipbuilding supplier identification number in the US this week.

It means once they are fully certified through the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification process, they’ll be able to tender for work.

Not only is this a boon to participating businesses, but the skills and experience gained through this endeavour will be highly applicable to the future construction of Australia’s own fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, SSN AUKUS, at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.

To help prepare the businesses for US shipbuilding work, they’ll share in $400,000 of South Australian Government support matched by the companies.

The participants in the state’s inaugural Supplier Capability Uplift Program – delivered by US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries through its Australian entity HII Nuclear Australia Pty Ltd (HII-NA) – are:

• McKechnie Iron Foundry
• Century Engineering
• Levett Engineering
• H-E Parts International
• MacTaggart Scott Australia.

Throughout 2024, these businesses worked with HII-NA’s technical experts to complete Supplier Technical Assessment and Validation (STAV) reviews, identifying hurdles to be overcome before competing for US naval shipbuilding work. Matched funding from the South Australian Government will now help participants address these capability gaps.

Buoyed by South Australia’s success, the Supplier Capability Uplift Program has been emulated in Western Australia and, last month, the Australian Government announced the national roll-out of a similar initiative – the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot.

The productive partnership between the South Australian Government and HII-NA began in late 2023, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Under the spirit of the trilateral AUKUS Agreement, parties agreed to cooperate on the development of South Australia’s defence industry workforce, skills, and supply chain.

Quotes attributable to Stephen Mullighan MP

 This program has been a success for those businesses that took part in it, and it’s shown how South Australia’s existing manufacturing capabilities can be applied to complex shipbuilding projects.

 Getting more businesses to be part of the supply chains of our AUKUS partners, helps them build the skills and experience we’ll need to deliver on South Australia’s major shipbuilding projects.  

 Quotes attributable to David Heaslip, Managing Director, Century Engineering

 Any new build program will have a period of learning as a prerequisite to becoming suitably qualified and experienced.

 HII provided an insightful review of Century’s capabilities and offered advice and comments in a transparent manner which allowed us to learn a lot about the requirements for the US Nuclear Submarine Build & Sustainment.

 Every defence project Century undertakes is an opportunity to further improve our capability. Becoming a trusted supplier to HII would mean lasting capability improvement for our business and workforce.

 This, in turn, positions us well to support Australia’s highly complex and demanding future submarine build and sustainment needs.