• MELBOURNE - Australia will invest $3.9 billion Australian dollars ($2.75 billion) in a submarine construction yard at Osborne in South Australia, to build nuclear-powered submarines acquired under the AUKUS pact, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. • The money, announced Sunday, will serve as a down payment for the construction of the yard. • Government-owned Australian Naval Infrastructure, which is responsible for the infrastructure behind Australia’s continuous naval shipbuilding program - including modernization of the Osborne yard - projects building the facility to cost $30 billion Australian dollars. • “South Australia is at the centre of one of the most significant defence undertakings in our history,” Premier of South Australia Peter Malinauskas said in a press release. • “Osborne will be critical to Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program under AUKUS, while supporting continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment.” When completed, the yard will comprise three main areas for fabrication, outfitting, and an area for consolidation, testing, launching and commission, according to the press release from Albanese’s office. • The total floor area of the new facility is expected to be 10 times larger than the existing submarine yard at Osborne South, and is expected to use 126,000 tons of structural steel - with the fabrication hall alone measuring 420 meters (1,378 feet) long, the statement added.
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