Century Engineering has become the first Australian business to secure export contracts into the United States naval nuclear supply chain \u2014 embedding Australian industry within the US industrial base.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Program is delivering tangible outcomes for local Australian businesses to break into global AUKUS supply chains,” Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The South Australian manufacturer has been awarded contracts by HII\u2019s Newport News Shipbuilding to produce precision-engineered parts for US aircraft carriers, which are among the world\u2019s most complex and highly regulated defence platforms.\u00a0 Production of the crank components will begin within weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot so long ago Century was making parts for Victa lawnmowers. Now, through the opportunity provided by AUKUS, it is making parts for nuclear powered aircraft carriers in the United States,” Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, stated.<\/p>\n
It is the first time an Australian company has delivered parts into a live nuclear-powered naval program, signalling a step change in Australia\u2019s role from prospector to participant within allied AUKUS supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Australia\u2019s doubled its defence industry output over the last five years to $2 billion and that number is set to significantly grow,” South Australian Defence Minister, Chris Picton, highlighted.<\/p>\n
Century Engineering\u2019s success follows its qualification to US naval nuclear standards through the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification (AUSSQ) Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is more than a single contract; it shows Australian SMEs can meet the highest standards and take their place in trusted international defence supply chains, contributing at scale,” H&B Defence Managing Director, Tim Brown, affirmed.<\/p>\n
Delivered by H&B Defence on behalf of the Australian Submarine Agency, AUSSQ is designed to identify, uplift and qualify Australian businesses to meet the exacting requirements of US and UK nuclear-powered submarine enterprises, creating a direct pathway into AUKUS-aligned programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cCentury Engineering\u2019s achievement is exactly what AUKUS was designed to unlock \u2014 deeper industrial integration between our nations and a stronger, more resilient supply chain. Through HII\u2019s partnership in the AUSSQ program, we are seeing Australian industry qualify to the highest standards and contribute meaningfully to the U.S. naval nuclear supply chain. This milestone shows what is possible when allied industrial bases work together with focus and purpose,” HII\u2019s President of the Global Security Group, Michael Lempke, explained.<\/p>\n
This outcome demonstrates that Australian industry can meet the highest global standards for quality and assurance, and validates AUSSQ as a critical enabler of sovereign capability development. It also reinforces Australia\u2019s ability to contribute meaningfully to trilateral defence industrial capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAUSSQ is establishing a pipeline of Australian industry ready to participate in long term naval programs across the United States and United Kingdom,” H&B Defence Board Member and Babcock Acting CEO, Leah Grantham, commented.<\/p>\n
To date, 13 Australian companies have qualified for inclusion in the US submarine industrial base through AUSSQ, and are responding to Requests for Quotation across priority areas including precision machining, casting and forging, and fabricated components.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a rewarding acknowledgement of our evolution from simple component manufacturer to suppling advanced manufacturing capability to US naval nuclear platforms,” Century Engineering Managing Director, David Heaslip, provided.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the same time, AUSSQ has expanded to support the United Kingdom\u2019s submarine enterprise. A growing cohort of Australian businesses are now being assessed across 20 capability areas to support Royal Navy Force Rotations at HMAS Stirling from 2027, including sustainment of visiting Astute-class submarines.<\/p>\n
Century Engineering\u2019s entry into the AUKUS ecosystem began through a pilot initiative jointly funded by HII and the South Australian Government, with targeted state grants accelerating its progression to nuclear standards. This milestone highlights the impact of coordinated investment in industrial capability, workforce skills and quality systems to unlock global defence opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Century Engineering has become the first Australian business to secure export contracts into the United States naval nuclear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-669657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}