ASC, the Australian builder and maintainer of the Collins Class submarines, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Defence Science and Technology (DST), renewing a relationship that has long collaborated across Australia’s submarine fleet.
ASC Chief Executive Officer Stuart Whiley said the collaboration with Australia’s leading government sector defence research organisation was critical to the company’s commitment to continuous improvement.
“As the builder, design authority and maintainer of the Collins Class fleet, which will be in service into the 2040s, ASC’s partnerships with subject matter experts and research organisations are a high priority,” Whiley said.
“I’m delighted to secure ASC’s continued collaboration with DST and look forward to further benefits for Australia’s operational submarine fleet, the Collins Class, across ASC’s responsibilities in submarine maintenance, sustainment, upgrades and life-of-type extension.”
ASC and DST have worked together for years. Since ASC and DST last formalised the collaboration in 2013 the organisations have delivered outcomes in submarine structures, including the certification of a new hull-welding technique this year; materials, including main motor banding refurbishment; hydrodynamics, including assessing changes to sonar fairing designs; signatures, including radar absorbing materials on submarine masts; and diesel engines (performance improvements, condition monitoring).