Australian Department of Defence awards four-year contract extension for submarine rescue capability

James Fisher Defence Australia (JFD Australia), the provider of the submarine rescue system to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) since 2009, will continue to deliver this capability to the RAN for an additional four years after finalising an extension to its contract with the Australian Department of Defence.

The extension ensures continuity of the service, which is on standby and ready at all times to retrieve the crew of a disabled submarine anywhere in the world from JFD Australia’s national headquarters and advanced support centre at Bibra Lake in Perth, Western Australia.

The rescue system is designed to be air-transportable, which JFD Australia claims is a crucial aspect of submarine rescue in a country and region where size, geography, and local conditions can prove challenging.

Of the six air-transportable submarine rescue systems in the world, JFD has the contracts to supply and support four of them – Australia, India (two systems), and the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS).