France's state-owned naval contractor DCNS Group has won a A$50bn ($40 billion) contract to build 12 submarines for the Australian Navy, beating bids from Japan and Germany.
Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, announced that DCNS awarded tender over Germany and Japan to build fleet of Barracuda-class submarines in South Australia. The decision to build a new fleet of submarines in partnership with DCNS represented “a momentous national endeavour,” he said.
The Shortfin Barracuda submarines will be built in Adelaide using Australian steel, creating 2,800 jobs, he said.
French President Francois Hollande hailed the decision as historic. "It marks a decisive advance in the strategic partnership between the two countries who will cooperate over 50 years," his office said in a statement.
Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and the government of Japan were the two unsuccessful bidders in the bid to build 12 submarines to replace Australia’s Collins-class submarines.
The Government confirmed that while the bulk of the submarine build will occur in Adelaide, components will come from other parts of the country and the United States.
The Shortfin Barracuda is a 4,500-tonne conventionally powered submarine. It is closely related to the nuclear-powered Barracuda which weighs 4,700 tonnes.
DCNS has said the full details are confidential, but the vessel is known to be more than 90m long and to feature an advanced pump-jet propulsion system that is supposed to be quieter than propeller propulsion systems.