February 16, 2018
Set to run well past 2040, the three-part, continuous build program will include 12 submarines, nine frigates and 12 offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). Canberra hopes it will do away with the cyclical, feast/famine nature of the sector, allowing it to build up muscle tissue, target export markets, and improve the digital literacy of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved. As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull put it, when the winning Future Submarine bid was finally announced in 2016: “The spin-offs to the rest of the economy will be immense.” The nature and magnitude of spinoffs from this “generations-long national endeavour” of naval work will be known later. However, the efforts needed to grow the SMEs (there are an estimated 3,000 SMEs in the sector, according to the Defence Industry Policy Statement) that will support the endeavour are already underway. The Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre has described the submarine project, properly approached, as offering a “moon-shot opportunity” for…