BAE Systems Australia chief executive officer Ben Hudson reveals ship building jobs

The chief of the firm building Australia’s future frigates and nuclear-powered submarines has revealed a recruitment program.

More than 600 workers will be hired for the Adelaide-based Hunter frigate project this year as BAE Systems Australia creates the foundations for a sovereign continuous naval shipbuilding capability, says chief executive officer Ben Hudson.

In an interview with The Advertiser, Mr Hudson outlined plans to attract both experienced shipbuilders and develop new talent through investing in training programs, with the aim of growing the existing 1700-strong workforce on the Hunter Class program.

Mr Hudson also echoed Premier Peter Malinauskas’s comments that South Australia could not alone meet the mammoth challenge of building AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines in a $368bn project.

BAE Systems Australia and Osborne Naval Shipyard neighbour ASC were in March named as the joint builders of Australia’s AUKUS submarines.

BAE Systems Australia chief executive officer Ben Hudson

Mr Hudson said Osborne was the “most digitally advanced shipyard in the world” and the technologies being developed and used for the Hunter project were creating a highly skilled workforce.

“We are ramping up recruitment for the Hunter program and aiming to recruit more than 600 new employees across our maritime business this year. The foundations being laid by the Hunter program will serve to embed a truly sovereign continuous naval shipbuilding capability here in Australia,” he said.

“Our priority is not only attracting experienced shipbuilders but also investing in training

programs to develop new talent. We have more than more than 1700 employees here in Australia working on the Hunter program. It is anticipated that we will directly employ 2600 people at the program’s peak.

“The skills which our workforce will gain and develop throughout the course of building these

ships will last them their entire careers and create the next generation of professional

shipbuilders.”

BAE Systems Australia chief executive officer Ben Hudson with Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond at the Defending Australia round table held at The Advertiser in February. Picture: Kelly Barnes

The Hunter warship build was reduced from nine to six in February, in the federal government’s response to a navy surface fleet review, and replaced by a next-generation air warfare destroyer project in a continuous shipbuilding program.

At the time, Mr Hudson said this would provide decades of work at Osborne and underpin Australia’s ship building enterprise into the future.

This will include AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine construction, which BAE also has said draws upon its decades of experience in Australia and the UK, the latter as that nation’s long-term submarine design and build partner.

The evolved Hunter Class design for the guided missile frigate. Supplied by BAE Systems Australia

BAE Systems Submarines in the UK has delivered five of seven Astute Class submarines to the Royal Navy, and the remaining two boats are at advanced stages of construction at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in that country’s northwest.

Asked if the nation, outside South Australia, was engaged with the Adelaide-based AUKUS submarine project and recognised the scale of the national and international endeavour, Mr Hudson said there was scope for more.

“While South Australia, as the primary site for submarine construction, is highly engaged, there is a need for broader national awareness and involvement,” he said.

“Increasing public understanding of the strategic importance and economic benefits of the

AUKUS project is the responsibility of all of us, in industry, defence and government.”

Asked if it was important that the public started to see action on the ground at Osborne, Mr Hudson said it was early days and the partners were working together closely to establish the foundations of a complex project.

“It is important to understand that all parties are working at pace to make sure that this project is mobilised quickly, noting its complexity,” he said.

“We will be working with the government and our partners through the commercial, programmatic, infrastructure, supply chain, workforce and regulatory aspects of the build program.”

Mr Hudson said building nuclear-powered submarines in Australia would “involve a myriad of challenges as we embark upon a program of this scale and complexity”.