Australian Department of Defence, South Australia will be home to the new headquarters of the Air Warfare Destroyer project creating up to 200 additional jobs in SA, as well as generating specialised design work for contractors throughout Australia.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the new AWD Systems Centre will manage the design schedule, budgets and work breakdown structures of the complex $6 billion shipbuilding project.
The centre will draw together Defence and industry partners to ensure effective and efficient decision making and will provide a focus for design related activity.
Senator Hill said the new centre is expected to create up to 200 high end jobs in South Australia including systems engineers and project managers as well as managers of the supply chain and alliance team.
Specific design projects will be carried out where they can be done most economically and productively with systems nodes expected to be created in Sydney (for combat system design work) and Melbourne (for ship design work).
The centre will include representatives from the Alliance Partners – the Commonwealth, the shipbuilder ASC, the systems integrator Raytheon and the ship designer Gibbs & Cox. It is also expected to include the United States company Lockheed Martin and the US Navy in support of the Aegis Combat System.
The centre may also carry out integrated logistics support, test and evaluation, training and crew preparation.
Earlier this year the Federal Government chose ASC Shipbuilder Pty Ltd, based at Outer Harbour in SA, as the preferred shipbuilder for Navy's AWDs.
“The advantage of basing the centre in Adelaide is the proximity to the shipbuilder ASC and also to the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) which is providing the key system integration laboratories,” Senator Hill said.
“The AWD Systems Centre is expected to cost approximately $30 million, with the State Government offering an assistance package of more than $10 million.
“The new jobs to be created will be high end skilled positions primarily naval architects, engineers and project managers with skills in warship design and systems integration.
“The decision to establish the AWD Systems Centre in Adelaide was supported by the industry alliance partners to the program.
“The construction of the AWDs will be one of the most significant shipbuilding projects undertaken in Australia to date, and will provide enormous opportunities for Australia's shipbuilding industry with important flow on benefits for key sub-contractors throughout Australia.”
The shipbuilding project will create more than 1000 direct jobs in South Australia as part of the build contract, as well as creating around 1000 additional jobs throughout Australia at other shipyards subcontracted for up to 70 per cent of the module construction work.
The AWDs will provide a major leap in Navy's air warfare capabilities providing anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities, as well as the ability to embark a helicopter at sea.
The three vessels, which are to be introduced into service from 2013, will be equipped with the world-class AEGIS Combat System that is capable of detecting and defeating multiple hostile aircraft and missiles.
Gibbs &Cox has been selected as the preferred platform systems designer for an evolved design which will be further considered in conjunction with an Australianised version of Spain's existing F100 ship design.
Raytheon Australia has previously been selected as the preferred bidder for Combat System-System Engineer contract in support of the combat system design and maintenance for the Air Warfare Destroyer.
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