More local Australian businesses will have the opportunity to build our nation’s defence future, as the Albanese Government continues to expand opportunities for industry to support AUKUS through a new Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot.

HII Australia has been awarded a contract to deliver the Pilot program over the next two years, with an initial value of $9.6 million and the option to extend based on achievement. HII is the largest military shipbuilder in the United States and one of two companies that builds United States nuclear-powered submarines. 

The Pilot program will accelerate the identification and qualification of Australian suppliers and products into the United States submarine industrial base. 

It will be delivered in partnership with H&B Defence – a HII and Babcock joint venture. 

Importantly, HII will identify and work with Australian small and medium-sized enterprises, including those not currently part of Australia’s submarine industrial base, which is critical to growing our sovereign defence industrial capability over the years and decades ahead.