Osborne again: Adelaide’s defence precinct transformed from industrial wasteland to a hi-tech home of ships, subs and steel

Once a neglected wasteland, Osborne has undergone an incredible transformation – and a top-level meeting has just kickstarted the next stage of its cutting-edge evolution.

First steel will be cut for Adelaide’s nuclear-powered submarine project in buildings to be erected later this year after a top-level Osborne shipyard meeting kickstarted the project.

In the first major on-site work for the $368bn AUKUS submarine venture – amid fresh concerns the project could be put in doubt by a Trump administration review – a demonstration facility at Osborne Naval Shipyard will test steel cutting, welding and other key procedures.

In a further boost for the program, Defence Minister Richard Marles declared the complicated life extension to the Osborne-built Collins class submarines was “a challenge that I think we can meet”.

Australian Submarine Agency director-general Jonathan Mead said he had chaired a May 29 meeting at Osborne involving UK officials, including Defence Procurement and Industry Minister Maria Eagle.

A recent aerial photo of Osborne Naval Shipyard, with ASC South (destroyers and frigates) in the foreground, ASN North (Collins class submarines) to the right and the AUKUS submarines construction site on the mostly vacant land behind it. Picture: Australian Naval Infrastructure.

The meeting also included chiefs of all major players, including ASC, BAE Systems Australia, Australia Naval Infrastructure and AUKUS nuclear reactor supplier Rolls-Royce.

“We worked through some of the complex matters. This was not just an information gathering session. We made decisions on facilities down there. We intend to commence build on some of the production demonstration buildings by the end of this year,” Vice Admiral Mead said.

“Investing early into these demonstration facilities will give us confidence that when we commence the build proper, that when we’re doing it for the first time, we’ll be doing it correctly.”

BAE Systems Australia chief executive Craig Lockhart, British High Commissioner to Australia Dame Sarah MacIntosh, UK Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle and UK Submarine Delivery Agency chief executive officer Vice Admiral Sir Chris Gardner tour Osborne Naval Shipyard last month. Picture: James Elsby/BAE Systems Australia

Vice Admiral Mead said this was designed to prevent time being lost during construction if parts, or modules, of the submarines were not fit for purpose.

“We’ll cut steel. We’ll test out the steel. We’ll make sure that the dimensions are exact. We’ll build valves, pumps, and other systems, plus piping and welding,” he said.

“We want to make sure that when we when we do our welding proper, that our welds are correct. The demonstration facilities will test out a range of skills and a range of capabilities that we will need in order to commence build proper of the submarine.”

Vice Admiral Mead in March outlined plans for a $2bn Osborne transformation into the world’s “most advanced manufacturing centre” for the AUKUS program. Work started in March on a $500m Skills and Training Academy.

Mr Marles, who in February labelled the Collins class life extensions a “technically challenging thing”, said up to $5bn would be pumped into the program over the next decade.

He said this would “ensure there is no capability gap until Australia’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines are in service”.

The Collins class sustainment program, conducted by ASC at Osborne Naval Shipyard, last December was listed by Defence as a Product of Concern “to enable enhanced ministerial oversight of this critical capability”.

The section of the Osborne shipyard site where the AUKUS submarines will be built.

The first steel will be cut for the future submarines project in workshops being built this year.

Mr Marles accused the Coalition of ripping money from the Collins class sustainment program run at Osborne by ASC, which he argued “left Australia with the risk of a significant gap in respect of our submarine capability”.

This funding had been restored, he said, to ensure the ageing Collins class submarines remained “a potent and credible platform for the Australian Defence Force”.

“As I’ve said previously, there is a challenge in relation to making sure that we are able to properly extend the life of the Collins class. But it is a challenge that I think we can meet,” he said.

Mr Marles said more than 150 ASC workers were already training at the United States Pearl Harbor navy base on maintenance of Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines, with this expected to grow to about 200 people by the end of the year.

The first ASC workers, from the firm’s SA and WA operations, left for Pearl Harbor in mid-2024.

Key roles in leading the sustainment of US and UK nuclear-powered submarines at Garden Island naval base, near Perth, are expected to start from as early as 2027.

“The fact that we’ve got 150 tradespeople in Pearl Harbor right now working on US Virginia class submarines is a proof point that we are investing the resources we need to make sure that we get the skilled workforce required to build and maintain our submarines in the future,” Mr Marles said.

Originally published as Osborne again: Adelaide’s defence precinct transformed from industrial wasteland to a hi-tech home of ships, subs and steel