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Frigate build site ready to launch $35 billion naval project

Work is almost finished in the $500 million upgrade of Adelaide’s new high-tech frigate shipyard with five new structures rising from its Port River site. Shipbuilding in South Australia is proving a bright spark in the economy with the first new construction shed for the nation’s $35 billion Hunter Class Frigate program now ready for action. Building 20 is part of the $500 million upgrade of the state’s Osborne shipyard and its handover to ASC Shipbuilding is now underway, keeping plans well on track for work on the nation’s nine anti-submarine warfare frigates to start this year. ASC Shipbuilding director Jim Cuthill said five new sheds in the shipyard were being fitted with cutting-edge equipment and the site’s builders Australian Naval Infrastructure and Lend Lease are on track for a complete handover in July. Meanwhile, design-based engineering work for the frigates was continuing. “At the moment about 70 per cent of our workforce is still working from home and we haven’t really missed a beat with the work that we are doing,” Cuthill said. “This is a program of national importance but it’s one that’s going to play a key role in terms of stimulating economic activity post Covid.” Workers employed on the frigates project run by ASC Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of defence giant BAE Systems Australia, are now just over 600 with Cuthill saying this would be ramping up from July to hit about 1000 by the end of 2020. Cuthill said Building 20 is where construction work for the frigates will begin, as the program kicks off with five prototype blocks of the ships being made in the first two years. The planned build would see mainly Australian steel first enter the highly automated fabrication hall to be cut and welded into the 75 units that will make up each of the frigates. Work then moves […]

UniSA and UOW join forces to build AI capability for Defence

A new collaboration between the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the University of Wollongong (UOW) is set to boost Australian defence industry research, focussing on each university’s strengths in data analytics and artificial intelligence. UniSA and UOW signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week to underpin the collaboration to deliver Australian Department of Defence (DoD) capability and explore wider engagement across other disciplines. The collaboration will enable new advances using AI and data analytics in the area of informed decision making and the development of goal-oriented autonomous systems. UniSA Director, Defence and Space, Matt Opie says combining the expertise of both organisations will improve the quality, depth and scope of the research delivered to Defence. “Together we can use our complementary research strengths to deliver better innovations and solutions for the Department of Defence,” Opie says. “UniSA has key research capabilities in information ecosystems, data analytics and the internet of military things to support a range of defence force requirements from battlefield decision making to military intelligence support systems. “Matched with what UOW can provide, we will be able to deliver a formidable research asset to the DoD and allied industries.” UniSA’s research team lead by Professor Markus Stumptner includes mathematicians, statisticians, engineers and software scientists with expertise in software interoperability, software architecture, Federated Analytics Platform, autonomous systems, and cybersecurity by design. The team also has expertise and research experience in data fusion, optimisations, mining, and trustworthiness and in sensor systems, digital twin/asset life cycle management, overarching Digital Models + Digital Systems, and predictive maintenance. Artificial Intelligence research lead at UOW, and Director of the Decision Systems Laboratory, Professor Aditya Ghose says his group works in a field called Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. “Our work applies knowledge representation and reasoning techniques to problems relating to intelligent agent systems, machine […]

Brighsun’s Li-S Batteries to enter industrial trials

Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) Battery Technology Breakthrough Through nearly 8 years of research, the Australian company Brighsun’s team, developed lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with an energy density 5-8 times higher than conventional secondary batteries. According to results from an internationally accredited testing agency (SGS), Brighsun’s new technology allows an Li-S battery to keep 91% of its initial capacity after 1,700 cycles at a rate of 2C (being fully charged/discharged in 30 mins). That means the capacity decay per cycle is as low as 0.01%. Even at a more aggressive rate of 5C (being fully charged/discharged in 12.5 mins), Brighsun’s Li-S battery retains 74% of its initial capacity after 1,000 cycles (capacity decay per cycle of 0.026%). The cathode energy density for the 1th cycle after activation at charge rate of 1C is 2103.8Wh/kg. Driven by the growing markets world-wide for EVs, the battery industry has explored a range of chemical combinations: lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide and, currently, nickel manganese cobalt. However, current battery systems still suffer from the major disadvantages of relatively low energy density, high raw material costs and secondary pollution during recycling. A Game Changer Brighsun’s advanced Li-S chemistry, offering high energy density and resultant low raw material costs, will be a game changer in the EV industry. Li-S batteries also have the potential to become the most promising energy storage systems for future railways, ships and airlines. Industries such as electric supply grid storage, mobile phones, drones and AI will also benefit from dramatically higher energy density storage provided by Brighsun’s new battery system. Companies in the US, Germany, Korea and China have been developing Li-S batteries and have achieved promising breakthroughs. However, these systems still face a number of challenges, including volume expansion of cathode materials during cycling, the shuttling effect of polysulfides, and the dendritic […]

Queensland food manufacturer switches to hand sanitiser

One of Queensland’s oldest family-owned companies and best-known food manufacturers Trisco Foods is fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and launching its own brand of clinical-grade hand sanitiser in just three weeks. The company, which normally produces syrups and thickeners, today completed the first bottling of its new hand sanitiser that will be sold to aged care centres and health departments across the country. About 35,000 litres of hand sanitiser will be produced every week at the company’s Carole Park factory with volumes to increase over coming weeks as safety systems and processes are expanded. The product will initially be available in 3lt bottles and 500ml flip cap bottles. Trisco Foods CEO Mike Tristram said the company had been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and had been looking for new opportunities to utilise their product R&D and mass production capabilities. “To effectively fight COVID-19 now and into the future we are going to need a lot of hand sanitiser and after some initial feasibility studies worked out we could quickly ramp up production of a product that met the highest standards and could be used in a range of clinical situations,” he said. “Businesses all over the world are adapting and evolving to the new world and this is one we can not only strengthen our business and retain jobs, but also help fight the outbreak.” Trisco, which was named Premier of Queensland’s Exporter of the Year last year, normally produces world class food ingredients, such as syrups and sundaes, that are used here and abroad by leading food companies. The company also produces the highly successful Precise Thick-N range of instant liquid thickeners that helps maintain the health of people suffering from swallowing problems and neurological-related dysphagia. Last year, the company expanded to the US with a […]

Armour manufacturer secures first international order

A South Australian bullet-proof armour manufacturer has won a contract to supply its lightweight ballistic plates to the Finnish Army. ASX-listed XTEK Limited launched its state-of-the-art fabrication centre in Adelaide’s north in February and announced its first commercial order in March for use in Australian law enforcement. The Finnish sale, worth more than A$1 million, is XTEK’s first international order, which it says represents a key milestone in its ballistic armour commercialisation strategy. “We have worked very hard to ensure that the long customer cycles have progressed in parallel with the construction of the new manufacturing centre in Adelaide, to ensure that the manufacturing capability is utilised as soon as possible – and we are now very pleased to see this strategy successfully executed,” XTEK Managing Director Philippe Odouard said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange this morning. The new Adelaide manufacturing centre is equipped with the company’s XTclave composite materials curing and consolidation technology to manufacture lightweight ballistic armour plates and helmets. The machine, about the size of four shipping containers, runs cycles of ultra-high isostatic pressure at high temperatures to achieve composite curing of thermoset and thermoplastic resin. XTEK has based its R&D operations in Adelaide for the past 13 years, developing the lightweight armour plates and helmets as well as rifles and other defence related products. Odouard said their US compliant small arms protective insert plates are up to 30 per cent lighter than other products and have buoyancy potential, while the light helmets can stop AK-47 MSC bullets and fragments. The Finnish purchase order has come from CPE Production Oy, a supplier of high-performance lightweight ballistic protection solutions to the Finnish Defence Forces and other European defence customers. In late 2017, XTEK received a small purchase order for samples of its proprietary XTclave manufactured […]

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DECO Australia announce new showroom and innovation centre

DECO Australia has announced its showroom in Minto is undergoing a massive redesign to help showcase the company’s entire range of architectural building products and finishes. The new facility – renamed the ‘DECO Innovation Centre’ – will celebrate the company’s innovative spirit while creating a flexible, collaborative space that delivers a premium customer service experience. The DECO Innovation Centre has been architecturally designed by renowned architecture firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke to achieve a dynamic building and space that will allow for continued development and change as the family-owned manufacturing business continues to expand. ClarkHopkinsClarke partner and architect Jordan Curran said his vision was to transform DECO Australia’s industrial warehouse into an innovation centre by using their world-class products in real life applications. “DECO is a very innovative company with an extraordinary range of finishes and products. They’re constantly creating and testing new material solutions for the built environment. For this project, we worked with the DECO team to shape a bright and flexible environment that would allow their client base to interact with and understand the properties of their products. “In particular we wanted to display products in natural light, exhibiting how they behave throughout the day and in different seasons. We also wanted to create a sensory experience, positioning products where people could get up close and even touch.” said Curran. The Innovation Centre will feature DECO’s full range of architectural building products including their unique aluminium cladding, batten and decking systems, as well as a number of new, soon-to-be-released product lines. Also on display will be the full range of powder coat and sublimated aluminium finishes, including the premium timber-look DecoWood® finish, and an operational kitchen will feature DECO’s one-of-a-kind splashback product, DecoSplash. DECO founder and director Ross Doonan believes the new centre will reflect the company’s core values of quality and innovation. “The DECO Innovation Centre […]

Australians want industry, and they’d like it green. Steel is the place to start

Australia has an historic opportunity to build a new, export-focused manufacturing sector based on renewable energy. As a bonus, it could enable a less politically fraught conversation about climate change. Global action on climate change is in Australia’s national interest. The changing climate is already reducing profits for Australian farmers. Tens of thousands of jobs depend on the again-bleached Great Barrier Reef. But for too long, political leaders have struggled to balance the national interest with the legitimate concerns of Australians who live and work in regions that host coal mining and other carbon-intensive industries – most notably central Queensland and the Hunter Valley in NSW. This climate conundrum has greatly complicated the national debate about climate change: neither commitments to a “just transition” to a low-emissions future, nor promises of coal exports in perpetuity, have proven convincing, leaving regional jobs in the lurch. Australians want industry In the 2019 federal election, voters in these carbon regions, perhaps fearing for their livelihoods, seemingly rejected Labor’s more ambitious climate policies. But with 85% of our black coal exported each year, decisions made in Beijing and New Delhi matter more to these communities than decisions made in Canberra. Australia needs a credible plan to replace carbon jobs as the world decarbonises, and ideally the new jobs will offer similar salaries, need similar skills, and be located in similar places. This is the key to cracking the climate conundrum: a plan based on sound economics that can offer hope to communities that currently depend on carbon-intensive activities. A new Grattan Institute report, Start with steel, finds that manufacturing green steel for export is the largest job opportunity for these regions of Australia. We can start with steel Green steel can be made by using renewable energy to produce hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen in place of metallurgical coal in the steelmaking process. The […]

Ship jobs to fuel South Australian recovery

The ramping up of shipbuilding programs in Adelaide this year is providing an employment lifeline for South Australia as the state looks for ways to boost jobs growth post coronavirus. There are already almost 700 people working on the Hunter Class Frigate Program. Those numbers are expected to reach 1000 by the end of the year and 1500 by mid-2025 before reaching a peak of 2400 in 2028. Nine anti-submarine warfare frigates will be built by ASC Shipbuilding at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide in what is being described as the largest surface ship project in Australia’s defence history. The $35 billion project is expected to generate thousands of additional jobs in South Australia and interstate at defence primes and smaller component manufacturers, which are being contracted to supply parts and expertise. It comes at an opportune time as Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force figures for March, released last week, show South Australia’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate climbed to 6.2 per cent, up from its already nation-topping February rate of 5.8 per cent. The full impact of coronavirus job cuts are not likely to show up until April’s figures are released next month. South Australia is pivotal in Australia’s $90 billion National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise. The last of three Air Warfare Destroyers were handed over to the Commonwealth in a ceremony at Osborne last month where construction of Offshore Patrol Vessels is well underway. Osborne has been the home of the Air Warfare Destroyer project for more than a decade and was also where six Collins Class submarines were built for the Royal Australian Navy and have undergone ongoing sustainment. It is also expected to be the construction site for 12 Attack Class Submarines from 2024, creating thousands more jobs. ASC Shipbuilding has become a subsidiary of BAE Systems throughout the Hunter […]

View from The Hill: Malcolm Turnbull gives his very on-the-record account of Scott Morrison

With nice irony, Malcolm Turnbull’s publisher was in a stoush at the weekend with Scott Morrison’s office over its leaking of the former prime minister’s autobiography, A Bigger Picture. Hardie Grant Books revealed a Morrison staffer had distributed the Turnbull tome electronically to numerous people. In a sharp letter the publisher’s law firm ordered the staffer to “cease and desist” and threatened legal action. On Sunday night – the eve of the book’s official publication – a spokesman for Morrison said: “The Prime Minister’s office will not comment on legal proceedings. Staff have been reminded of their obligations under copyright law, and of the high standards of conduct expected of them.” The PMO staff member, Nico Louw, is said to have received an “unsolicited” copy of the book, and then sent it to a number of others. He has subsequently apologised. Indeed the book has been scattering around like confetti. Last Thursday The Australian, under the byline of national affairs editor Simon Benson, published an extensive report from the book. Obtaining leaks is part of what journalists do and we can’t know where Benson got this one. The newspaper delighted in pre-empting Nine, that had rights to the book, and in raining on Turnbull’s parade which, given the unfortunate release time, in the middle of a pandemic, presents more challenges than the usual book tour. In his nearly 700-page tell-all (perhaps not quite “all”) story, Turnbull offers his insight on Morrison as a political operator, drawn especially from their days as prime minister and treasurer between 2015 and 2018. Turnbull highlights Morrison’s penchant for leaks and selective briefings, labelling them “serial indiscretions”. “Scott, like many other politicians, used leaks to ingratiate himself with journalists and newspapers – especially News Corporation’s Simon Benson and editors like Chris Dore and Paul Whittaker,” […]

Australia’s natural sanitiser: Lemon Myrtle in demand

A lemon myrtle farm in Far North Queensland has retooled its entire operation to meet the growing demand for hand sanitiser and cleaning products in the wake of coronavirus. Lemon myrtle has natural antibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial properties. To keep up with a spike in customer enquiries, Australia’s largest producer, Australian Native Products, has shifted its entire Mareeba production from turning 95% of its harvested lemon myrtle into dried leaves to distilling 100% of the crop into lemon myrtle essential oil. Lemon myrtle essential oil can then be used as a natural antibacterial in hand sanitiser and cleaning products. The farm expects to produce more than 300kg of lemon myrtle oil between now and June. CEO James Gosper can discuss the installation of the new still and how the farm has reworked its entire crop away from drying to distilling. As a whole, the company is working to make use of the bi-products of lemon myrtle. They have developed manufacturing processes to extract hydrosol from the plant which can be used in fragrances, as well as microfibre which they hope to market into body scrubs and cosmetics.

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