RAN extends next-gen combat system to embrace two additional classes

Saab Australia, the country’s sovereign Combat Management System supplier, will extend the footprint of its 9LV Mk3 CMS to include the RAN’s Maritime Mine Counter-Measures and Military Survey vessels.

The announcement means Saab’s CMS will equip six RAN ship classes: Anzac, Canberra, Supply, Arafura, Mine Countermeasures and Military Survey Vessels.

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said 22 March this would drive the next phase of growth and investment by Saab Australia. “This project will create Australian jobs for engineers and project managers, developing further capability within the industrial supply chain and supporting a major, multi-million dollar expansion of Saab’s South Australian and West Australian facilities,” she added.

Saab’s investment and recruitment since signing their Enterprise Partnering Agreement with Defence in February 2020 is clear evidence that the Australian Government’s Naval Shipbuilding Plan is creating jobs and delivering sovereign capability, she said.

“In the first 12 months of the EPA, Saab has been awarded almost $20 million and welcomed 108 new staff across Australia.”