Thyssen Krupp Marine Services has said it wants to use ASC’s shipyards to create a hub for building and sustaining combat boats in the Pacific.
The Australian Financial Review reportsthat Germany’s TKMS would include up to 70 per cent local content if it were successful in the “competitive evaluation process”. German, Japanese and French bids make up the three-cornered contest, with the TKMS contender saying it could take over ASC to replicate the German facilities.
“We are prepared to build up another branch of TKMS that is very substantial, long-lasting, with a long perspective serving the Pacific area and beyond Australia,” chairman Hans Christoph Atzpodien told The AFR.
Siemens, the major supplier, has also committed to have 50 per cent of its motors for the subs built in Australia.
TKMS builds submarines for the German navy. If it was successful in its bid for the Future Submarines project, it would be building subs twice the weight of what it currently builds.
“This is a custom submarine for Australia. No one else will have it,” Dieter Rottsieper, the company’s CFO, told The Australian.
“A lot of it is proven equipment and processes but it is a new submarine. That is a different commitment and level of work than it is selling one of our family and customising it for the customer.”
The deadline for submissions to the evaluation process was November 30.
Japan was the previous favourite to build the new fleet of submarines, though this changed when Tony Abbott was replaced as prime minister.
The contract, which includes building up to 12 vessels and sustaining these for up to 30 years, could be worth up to $50 million.
Source: Manufacturing Monthly
