Defence has extended two contracts with James Fisher Defence (JFD). The first contract is worth $100 million for a duration of five years. It covers underwater life support systems for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It will involve the manufacture of recompression chambers, the maintenance of rebreathers and hyperbaric chambers, and will support the submarine escape and rescue systems.
“It’s work like this that is essential to a future made in Australia, and to the more than 100,000 men and women employed in the defence industry," stated Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Pat Conroy.
The second contract is worth $90 million and covers four years of work. It is for submarine escape and rescue services in support of the Collins class submarines. The work will be conducted in Western Australia, where Australia's current Collins class submarines are also located.
“Investing in this sovereign capability ensures our local industrial base is able to retrieve a submarine crew anywhere in the world," said Conroy.
"Keeping our submariners safe has always been our number-one priority and we are very pleased to be able to continue this commitment and support to the Navy,” said Managing Director of JFD Australia, Ms Cathy Falkiner.