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Andrew Seal, head of defence and marine solutions at Siemens, has welcomed the Australian federal government’s drive to innovate and its work to establish a roadmap for the sector’s continuous shipbuilding program.
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Speaking with Defence Connect, Seal praised what he cast as the government's genuine efforts to outline the roadmap for the continuous shipbuilding program.
“It's good to see defence industry with a real drive to innovate, [to] be part of these programs, and they can see a roadmap,” said Seal. “I thought, ‘they're not sitting there waiting, it's happening [and] that's great’.”
Seal said he had noted a palpable energy and buzz around the industry.
“The energy's there, the desire to collaborate is there. The funding to develop new technologies and do research is there,” he said. “In the past, it's been a bit famine and feast, with people not really knowing whether they're going to be in a program or not, but now there's so much work to be done. It's not one person's space.”
“The way the defence industry's going to deliver this ... the only way is to collaborate together, because there's just so much work to do,” said Seal.
“I'd love to see a real, true digital shipyard environment. We're doing great work with Austal at the moment in their transition. We've got people coming in from the US on a regular basis.
“We've done the industry 4.0 classes that soon ... Let's get graduation swaps going, that would be a really good thing to see.”
Seal added that Siemens is currently the only provider of electronic propulsion to the Royal Australian Navy.
“We did all of the Anzac power and automation during that build,” he said. “We were one of the big, tier two providers on that program. So, LHDs, tools, there's all of those areas.”
