Austal USA recently announced an agreement with Australia’s government-owned Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) to share its 3D printing and additive manufacturing technology in another move to aid Australia’s industry as the AUKUS agreement proceeds.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) specifically covers collaboration on additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and workforce development via training and upskilled in advanced manufacturing technologies. The two parties said this will help strengthen Australia’s domestic AM supply chain to support sustaining the country’s current Collins-class submarines and U.S.-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs).
The MoU was signed at the Austal USA stand during the 2025 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition (INDOPAC 2025) in Sydney, Australia, which took place Nov. 4 to 6.
ASC built the Collins-class submarines and was selected to lead production on Australian production of the future United Kingdom-designed nuclear-powered SSN-AUKUS attack submarine, alongside Britain’s BAE Systems.
Under the AUKUS agreement, the U.S. government plans to sell Australia three to five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s to bolster the retiring Collins-class boats as a bridge until SSN-AUKUS is ready to start production in Australia, expected by the early 2040s. First, the U.K. plans to start building its SSN-AUKUS boats in the late 2030s, led by BAE Systems.
“This is another significant advance in our efforts to fully integrate the use of AM in the submarine and shipbuilding production and repair process. Signing the MoU here at INDOPAC in Sydney highlights the growing achievements of AUKUS and the expanding relationship between the US and Australian industrial bases,” Lawrence Ryder, Austal USA vice president for business development and external affairs, said in a statement.
Austal USA noted its advanced technologies team leads and operates the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, Va., where it supports qualification and scaling of AM parts for defense applications. As part of this effort, Austal USA is responsible for developing a national network of vendors with qualified AM machines and processes to provide critical submarine parts.
The company said due to its leadership in these AM areas, it has a “unique familiarity with end-to-end production pathways using AM across multiple modalities and alloys. The company is using laser powder bed fusion, wire arc additive manufacturing, wire laser additive manufacturing and exploring the use of cold spray additive manufacturing.”
Notably, beyond its key role in the Navy additive manufacturing effort, in 2022 Austal USA began a strategic partnership with submarine prime contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat to help build American submarines as an outsourcing partner. Austal USA is now currently building and outfitting command and control system modules and electronic deck modules for Electric Boat-built Virginia and Columbia-class submarines at its Mobile, Ala., shipyard facility.
Austal USA is a subsidiary of the Australian-based Austal, a global shipbuilder with facilities also in Australia, the Philippines and Vietnam.