Under the contract, BAE Systems Australia will provide through-life engineering and design services for the Navy’s Anzac-class vessels. The company will also coordinate work across a wider industrial base, working with small and medium-sized providers, including sustainment partner BMT, while acting as a single point of contact for engineering support.
The investment is expected to support more than 80 defence industry jobs across Australia and provide long-term certainty for companies involved in naval sustainment. Officials say this stability will allow defence industry partners to expand their capabilities and strengthen regional industrial capacity.
Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said the agreement would ensure continued operational support for one of the Navy’s most important surface fleets. “The Anzac-class are the longest-serving surface combatants in the current Australian fleet. For the last 30 years they have deployed around the world and are the backbone of Navy’s fleet,” he said.
Vice Admiral Hammond emphasised that maintaining the availability of the vessels is essential during the Navy’s broader modernization effort. “Assured availability and performance of the Anzac-class fleet is essential while the Navy transitions to a larger more lethal fleet of surface combatants,” he said.
Deputy Secretary of the National Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group David Hanley said the contract supports a wider strategy for sustaining Australia’s naval forces. “This agreement with BAE Systems Australia is a key building block in Defence’s new maritime sustainment approach that ensures the Anzac-class remains safe, capable and available,” Mr Hanley said.
Hanley added that the arrangement would strengthen fleet readiness while supporting future maintenance structures. “By locking in robust design support with BAE, we are underpinning fleet readiness while setting conditions for a seamless transition to our regional maintenance arrangements,” he said.
