Lockheed Martin Australia Wins $700M Future Submarine Combat System Contract

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $700 million contract by Australia’s Defense Ministry for the Future Submarine Combat System Design, Build and Integration, Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne announced Thursday.

“Today marks a further step forward in our partnership with Lockheed Martin Australia in delivering a fleet of regionally superior submarines to Australia,” Minister Pyne said. “This contract will cover work to 2022, including the design of the Combat System and procurement activities to select subsystem and component suppliers”. 

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said Lockheed Martin's involvement would integrate torpedo capacity into the new submarine model, "once that starts being built in 2022".

Pyne said the newly awarded contract will create over 200 new jobs, majority of which will be based in South Australia. “These are high tech jobs of the future, the jobs the Government has committed to creating as part of our historic $200 billion defence investment over the next decade. There will be many more to come,” he said.

Lockheed Martin Australia was selected as the Future Submarine Combat System Integrator in September 2016. “The company has worked with Defence to successfully complete initial design work for the Future Submarine Combat System under an earlier contract signed in November 2016,” he said. 

That came months after French company DCNS won the long-anticipated $50 billion future submarines contract to build the new vessels, which will replace the Navy's ageing Collins Class fleet.

“This Future Submarine Combat System Design, Build and Integration Contract is another example of the Turnbull Government’s commitment to Australia’s defence industry, and an on‑schedule achievement in the delivery of Australia’s future naval shipbuilding capability,” Pyne added.