Australia Reveals Its AUKUS Submarine Industrial Roadmap

The Australian Government has just published its detailed industrial strategy outlining how it intends to help its domestic firms develop the skills to supply its AUKUS submarine programme.

The AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy document published on the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) website lays out the key areas of focus as the country gears up to acquire conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines in what it has labelled “the most complex and consequential industrial transformation to Australian defence industry in our nation’s history.”

It notes: “The calibre of Australia’s sovereign submarine industrial base has a direct relationship to the availability and preparedness of our multi-class submarine capability.”

Working to an explicit timeframe identified under the “Optimal Pathway” announced back in March 2023, the document sets out five key areas of focus:

• Creating demand clarity

• Boosting investment attractiveness in critical areas

• Simplifying industrial regulation

• Growing the skilled nuclear-powered submarine workforce

• Integrating Australian industry into US and UK supply chains

The strategy covers sustaining and upgrading Australia’s existing Collins-class submarines for the rest of their lifespan, acquiring and maintaining the Virginia-class subs it is due to purchase from the United States, and the plans to build and maintain its domestically produced SSN AUKUS submarines. 

To construct Australia’s SSN AUKUS boats the Australian Government is partnering with ASC Pty Ltd (ASC) and BAE Systems; delivery of the first vessel is scheduled for the early 2040s.

The Government claims the AUKUS programme will be providing a A$30 billion investment into its industrial base across a 30-year timeframe, with in the region of 20,000 jobs created in the same period.

It notes that integrating Australian firms into the wider trilateral industrial base will both provide its domestic vendors with export opportunities while increasing supply chain resilience across all three AUKUS partners.

Elements of the strategy include the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification (DIVQ) Programme launched in January 2024, which seeks to streamline and accelerate the qualification of Australian industry to access trilateral supply chains.

They also include the AUstralian Submarine Supplier Qualification (AUSSQ) Pilot helping Australian businesses get qualified into the US supply chain via a partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries Australia.

• You can read more details and download the full strategy document on the ASA website