Australian government and industry sign SSN AUKUS Tasking Statement

The Australian Submarine Agency (ASA), BAE Systems Australia Ltd and ASC Pty Ltd have signed a Tasking Statement, a contractual agreement that supports the joint development of an SSN AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine build strategy, supply chain management plans and a workforce development strategy.

The signing of the Tasking Statement was announced by the Australian and UK Governments following the AUKMIN talks in London in mid-December.

Stuart Whiley, CEO and Managing Director of ASC, said, “The Tasking Statement is an important step in establishing a sovereign nuclear submarine build capability in Australia. SSN AUKUS is a multi-national, multi-generational program through which ASC will invest in developing the critical skills required to build a nuclear submarine fleet in Australia. It’s hard to imagine, but the children at school today will be the ones building our submarine fleet of tomorrow.”

“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,” said Craig Lockhart, Chief Executive of BAE Systems Australia.

“It is a complex build challenge that industry partners are coming together to deliver. Work is underway on defining the delivery schedule, the enablement environment for future information transfer between the UK, US and Australia, as well as design of the new yard at Osborne to accommodate the build.”

SSN AUKUS is BAE Systems’ contribution to the critical tri-national security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US, said Steve Timms, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Submarines business.

“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,” he added.

“We have a long history of delivering sovereign capability and security in Australia and the UK and the Tasking Statement underpins further support to essential delivery capabilities in Adelaide, with support from Barrow.”

Over the past eight months, government and industry partners have made progress across a number of areas for delivery of the SSN AUKUS, says Defence.  In November, the ASA, BAE Systems and ASC signed an AUKUS Mobilisation Deed, which provides a framework to contract with the Australian Government through the ASA. That followed the Heads of Agreement and the tri-lateral announcement of the Commonwealth of Australia’s shipbuilders in March.