The Australian defense ministry has awarded Lockheed Martin a AU$700 million contract to design, build and integrate a combat system for the Royal Australian Navy’s future submarines.
Announcing the contract on January 25, Australian defense industry minister Christopher Pyne said the contract with Lockheed Martin Australia would create 200 new jobs, majority of which will be based in South Australia.
“This contract will cover work to 2022, including the design of the combat system and procurement activities to select subsystem and component suppliers,” Pyne said. “The future submarine program remains on time and on budget, further demonstrated by this milestone event.”
Lockheed Martin Australia was selected as the future submarine combat system integrator in September 2016.
A total of 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines will be built for Australia by French shipbuilder Naval Group at a cost of AUD 50 billion.
Construction is expected to start in 2022–23 once 85 per cent of the design work is completed.