BAE Systems opens the door to Type 26 supply chain
One hundred and fifty of Australia's most innovative companies will this week pitch their products and services into one of the world's largest maritime defence projects.
Above:
Computer generated image of the future Type 26 Global Combat Ship.
Copyright BAE Systems
BAE Systems, together with 20 of its major suppliers to the Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme, including Rohde and Schwarz, Rolls Royce, David Brown Santasalo, L3 and Babcock, are in Canberra to meet with Australian SMEs over the next two days.
As well as the opportunity to meet with BAE Systems and its suppliers, SMEs will hear from those companies who have been successful in securing global defence contracts and learn more about what it takes to be part of a global supply chain and the diverse opportunities available in the defence industry.
As the lead contractor for the Type 26 programme, BAE Systems is maturing the detailed design for the ships and has already awarded key contracts for long lead items for the first three ships as it prepares to start the manufacturing phase.
BAE Systems Australia Director Strategy, Fran Murphy, said: “Australian SMEs have an extraordinary reputation for being innovative, agile and cost competitive which is why some of the world’s biggest companies are here to engage with and understand the capability that Australian companies can bring to this important programme.
“Securing work on a project the size and scale of the UK’s Type 26 to be built for the Royal Navy would position any Australian business well for future opportunities. The Global Combat Ship has been designed for export and is currently being offered to Australia and other nations around the world.”
The UK Government committed to buy eight of the advanced anti-submarine warships in its 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will in time replace the UK’s Type 23 frigates. BAE Systems Australia is proposing the Global Combat Ship for the SEA 5000 (Future Frigates) programme to replace the ANZAC class frigates.
The Type 26 Global Combat Ship will be globally deployable and capable of undertaking a wide range of roles from high intensity warfare to humanitarian assistance, either operating independently or as part of a task group.
The ship has been designed with an acoustically quiet hull and there is flexibility in the design to allow Type 26 to be upgraded as new technology develops to ensure that it remains relevant to future requirements.
