• Image credit Department of Defence. Captured by POIS Tom Gibson. "Royal Australian Navy Landing Helicopter Dock HMAS Adelaide enters the Captain Cook Graving Dock for maintenance at Fleet Base East in Sydney, New South Wales."
    Image credit Department of Defence. Captured by POIS Tom Gibson. "Royal Australian Navy Landing Helicopter Dock HMAS Adelaide enters the Captain Cook Graving Dock for maintenance at Fleet Base East in Sydney, New South Wales."
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Defence's Future Maritime Sustainment Model (FMSM), part of Plan Galileo, highlights sustainment as a key enabling sovereign capability, keeping Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships at sea, in turn deploying their critical capability where it is needed.

While the media turns its attention to new ship builds it’s important to remember the navy platforms currently in service need to continue being available, affordable, upgraded and sustained into the next decade.

The Australian defence industry has a key role to play in turning the FMSM from a vision into reality as Australia responds to a shifting strategic environment.

“Having a broad and experienced maritime sustainment supply chain in Australia provides strategic assurance that we can continue to keep RAN ships at sea,” says Andy Davis, Babcock Australasia’s Managing Director Defence.

“Having the onshore industry in Australia that sustains our vessels, keeps them operational, as well as supporting complicated high-tech systems, provides strategic resilience to Australia.  

“This became apparent during the COVID pandemic when flying people in from overseas to rectify issues, or sourcing parts from overseas, was challenging and at times not possible.

“Growing Australian Industry Capability (AIC) across warship sustainment also provides long term economic security for jobs and future industry development, particularly in regional centres.

“Having well planned continuity of work gives local industry the confidence and assurance to invest in skills, capability, tools and systems.

“That’s why our focus is on continuing to forge strategic partnerships with local industry that generates the development of additional skills, capacity, intellectual property, long-term jobs and broader economic benefits to the communities in which we operate,” said Davis.

A key tenet of the FMSM is to standardise service delivery across the four Regional Maintenance Centres (RMC) in Cairns, Darwin, Henderson in Western Australia and in Sydney.

Davis said an integrated national approach will be vital to delivering standardisation across the RMC network and therefore allowing the Navy to reap the future benefits of Plan Galileo.

“We want to ensure standardisation of service delivery, processes and systems. This will provide assurance to the Commonwealth that these centres, with the surrounding defence industry, can each undertake complex maintenance or capability upgrades for multiple ships into the future.”

He said Babcock with its naval sustainment business Naval Ship Management (NSM), operate a unique model holistically aligned to the FMSM, to deliver sovereign maritime sustainment.

“NSM and Babcock already operate in multiple locations and across three platforms, with the Anzac Class Frigates, Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) and LHD Landing Craft supported between Australia’s east and west coasts, making alignment across Australia already central to our operations.”

On the east coast, Babcock and NSM are collaborating with Atlantic & Peninsula Australia (A&P) who also specialise in engineering, ship repair and platform lifecycle management.

A&P currently provides ongoing In-Service Support and Sustainment for HMAS Choules. The company is also currently delivering the largest refit programme to take place in Sydney in the last 15 years.

Collectively, NSM and A&P have been delivering warship sustainment for over 10 years in Sydney, engaging local repair agents to deliver around 70 percent of the sustainment spend in region.

“Our combined capability generates substantial opportunities for suppliers. We have seen many of our suppliers grow in size and capability and we are committed to continue providing opportunities for our supply chain to grow as we grow,” said Davis.

Davis says Babcock, A&P and our trusted local industry partners are integral to the nation’s current naval sustainment and at the core of delivering a truly national capability, keeping the RAN’s ships at sea where they are needed.

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