Australia announced on Saturday that it had signed a four-year contract worth $1.4 billion with submarine builder ASC to modernize the navy’s Collins-class submarines, writes Reuters.
The contract is part of a government commitment to keep the diesel-electric Collins-class fleet “a strong strike and deterrence capability”, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
The contract will “directly provide job security for more than 1,100 highly skilled workers”, with work being carried out in Henderson in Western Australia and Osborne in South Australia, Conroy said.
Osborne is where ASC and Britain’s BAE Systems will jointly build Australia’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, the main component of a pact between Britain, the US and Australia.
Until this work begins, the shipyard is where most of the maintenance of the existing Collins-class fleet is carried out.
Source: www.descopera.ro
