Australia said on Monday it planned to hire another 200 workers to be trained to help sustain American and British nuclear-powered submarines on a Western Australia naval base.
This recruitment and upskilling program is part of the new government-funded Jobs for Subs program and plans to hire 200 entry-level workers over two years for the government-owned ASC Pty Ltd. This is another step in the trilateral AUKUS agreement under which the U.K. and U.S. are helping Australia build, operate and maintain nuclear-powered conventionally-armed attack submarines.
The jobs will consist of “high priority disciplines and trades essential to the nuclear-powered submarine enterprise, building the workforce we need in the west to sustain and maintain Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines,” the office of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
The roles include fabrication, machining, engineering, project management, supply chain and operations qualifications.
ASC Pty Ltd is the country’s sole domestic submarine producer, having built and maintained the current fleet of Collins-class submarines, which AUKUS seeks to replace with three to five U.S.-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines and domestically-built SSN-AUKUS boats by the 2040s.
One of the early phases of AUKUS, before Australia receives any nuclear-powered submarines, is to sustain the Submarine Rotational Force – West (SRF-W). SRF-W is planned to have a rotational force of up to one U.K. and four U.S. SSNs at HMAS Stirling as soon as 2027. This seeks to help Australia’s allies while also helping build the domestic capability to sustain these kinds of boats.
“Today’s announcement is another important step in growing the workforce to be equipped with the skills and training we need to acquire Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines,” Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Defense Richard Marles said in a statement.
The government noted the Albanese administration previously committed to investing up to $5.4 billion in infrastructure enabling SRF-W and later to operate Australian-owned SSNs.
Relatedly, during a Sept. 2 press conference, Albanese told reporters “Here in [Western Australia], there will be about 3,000 jobs created directly as a result of this.”
A version of this story first appeared in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing affiliate publication Defense Daily.
