Australia’s premier mission systems integrator, Raytheon Australia, today welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement on the future of naval shipbuilding.

The Managing Director of Raytheon Australia, Michael Ward, said "we welcome the Government’s commitment to a long term naval shipbuilding plan for Australia. The announcement provides much needed clarity for the defence industry and will allow for greater certainty for investment decisions.

"I am confident the naval shipbuilding industry has a strong long term future and this decision will help secure not only shipbuilding jobs but important high value skills in systems integration for the 2020’s and beyond.

"The announcement to accelerate a local build of the future frigate based on a continuous build model is particularly important and reflects an approach we have long supported. A continuous build offers the best opportunity for productivity improvements necessary to sustain the industry into the long term. Such an approach will take advantage of the benefits of commonality and deliver significant cost advantages in the build and support phases of the future frigate project.

"The decision to undertake the future frigate in Australia is an endorsement of the systems engineering capabilities of Australian industry and adds to the Government’s earlier commitment to undertake systems integration activities for the future submarine in Australia."

Raytheon Australia is the mission systems integrator on Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) project, employing around 300 people at Techport in Adelaide and at the company’s Macquarie Park facility in Sydney which acts as a node of the AWD Systems Centre. Raytheon also employs more than 100 people on projects associated with the Collins Class submarine.

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Media contact: Sarah Valentine; 0437 595 581 sarah.valentine@raytheon.com.au