DCNS Australia celebrated the founding of their Australian headquarters in Keswick, Adelaide, on Tuesday December 20 and France and Australia have signed an important inter-governmental agreement required for the building of the future submarines.
The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull; Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne; Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Defence; and a number of parliamentarians and defence sector figures.
“This is an important initial milestone in DCNS’ decades long commitment to the design and construction of 12 regionally superior submarines in Adelaide,” Herve Guillou, chairman and global CEO of DCNS Group said.
“This facility, and our local Adelaide workforce starting with 50 people in 2017, marks the beginning of our relationship as part of the community.”
The facility will become operational in early 2017 to support DCNS’ activities around Australia, including the transfer of technology from France to Australia, the development of the Australian supply chain and the design of a new shipyard in Adelaide.
“We are planning from the beginning to maximize the participation of Australian business in this $50 billion project,” Sean Costello, CEO, DCNS Australia said.
“Australian industry participation is not just good for local business and the community, but critical for the transfer of knowledge and the creation of Australian sovereignty for the operation and sustainment of the submarines”.
The DCNS Australia Adelaide Future Submarine Facility is located at 1 Richmond Road, Keswick.
Le Drian and Minister for Defence Marise Payne have also signed an inter-governmental agreement required for the development of the submarines.
“The agreement signed today will enable France to transfer cutting-edge skills, knowledge and technology to the Australian Government and Australian industry to achieve a sovereign operational and sustainment submarine capability in Australia,” Minister Payne said.
“The agreement also recognises the importance of maximising Australian industry involvement in the Future Submarine Program, including through deepening partnerships between Australian and French defence suppliers.”
Le Drian said the agreement is an importrant milestone in the deepening bilateral relationship.
“While in Sydney I visited the French Navy’s multimission ship D’Entrecasteaux, which was deployed to Noumea this year,” he said. “Its presence in Sydney is a testament to the vitality of our operational cooperation.”