French yard sets up subsidiary in Australia

French state shipbuilder Naval Group, which has a huge contract to build 12 submarines for the Australian navy, will set up a separate subsidiary company in Australia for shipbuilding research. Headquartered in Sydney, with a presence in Melbourne and Adelaide, the new company will be called Naval Group Pacific. It will undertake joint defence research partnerships with Australian universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research. "It will be a regional hub for research and development," Naval Group chairman Mr Herve Guillon said. He said the subsidiary would work beyond submarines, although many areas of research. These other areas will include managing artificial intelligence in combat platforms, combating corrosion, and three-dimensional modelling which have applications in both submarines and other naval vessels. He believed the subs project signalled "at least a 50-year strategic partnership" between France and Australia and the new company would seek to give life to that partnership.