Australia has just announced it will spend around AUS$30bn (£15.6bn) to build a large nuclear submarine construction yard at Osborne in Adelaide which is intended to replicate the processes in use at BAE Systems’ facility at Barrow, Naval Lookout reports.
Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, Director-General of the Australian Submarine Agency, has confirmed that the manufacturing system will be ‘identical’ to that used at Barrow-in-Furness shipyard and the two yards will build SSN-AUKUS boats in parallel.
Replicating Barrow’s approach means far more than similar buildings. It implies common production methodology, shared nuclear and quality standards, interoperable supply chains and a digitally integrated build environment. In effect, Australia is inserting a fourth production line into the AUKUS ecosystem, alongside Newport and Groton in the United States and at Barrow.
The facilities in Cumbria are constrained by their Victorian legacy and complicated access, but by contrast, Osborne will be purpose-built to support modern submarine construction methods.
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