Honeywell has been awarded a contract to deliver the AUKUS Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) pilot program, aiming to establish an enhanced security framework that will underpin a safer, more secure, reliable and effective technology transfer.
As part of this program, the technology transfer will activate Australian Industry to support the conventionally armed, nuclear-powered Virginia–Class Submarine production, sustainment, and operational readiness. The contract was awarded by BlueForge Alliance on behalf of the AUKUS Acquisition and Integration Office of the U.S. Navy.
The AUKUS enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States was announced in 2021 and is designed to support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The partnership strengthens the combined industrial capacity of the three countries, with increased cooperation making trilateral supply chains more robust and resilient.
One of the priorities for the AUKUS partnership is to develop the nuclear stewardship required to grow Australia’s ability to secure the supply chain for the Virginia–Class Submarine programs. This will involve a network of suppliers and partners powered by a local workforce of more than 30,000 people in Australia and 100,000 in the United States.
Following the contract award, Honeywell will support the AUKUS SIB pilot program team by establishing a secure network of suppliers and partners to support production and operation submarine fleet.
Honeywell is working on the program with U.S.-based partners that include Orbis Sibro Inc., Argus Enterprises and Massa Products Corporation as well as Australian partner Senetas. Additional Australian companies are also expected to be selected during the pilot program. Together, this team will deliver the AUKUS SIB pilot program over the next two years.
Lee Davis, Head of Defense and Space Australia, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, commented, “AUKUS is an industry-building endeavor and the top Australian defense program of our time, and we are proud to be part of the team that is mobilizing these projects to bolster Australia’s defense capability.
“With a heritage of supporting nuclear stewardship in the U.S. industrial base for the conventionally armed, nuclear powered Virginia-Class submarine program, combined with submarine component production in all three AUKUS regions, Honeywell is uniquely positioned to lead the formation of AUKUS Team SIB.”
