;On schedule and within budget, ADI Limited today handed over to the Royal Australian Navy the second of Australia's highly advanced Huon Class minehunters, Hawkesbury.
One of six new minehunters ADI is producing for the Navy under a $1 billion contract at Newcastle, Hawkesbury has a special significance because:
**It is the first of the Huon Class ships to be totally built in Australia. **It represents the first handover of a ship by ADI under its new owners - a joint venture of Transfield and Thomson-CSF. **It is the ship that successfully completed the shock resistance trials of the totally Australian produced minehunters off the NSW coast. The rigour of the shock trials proved the quality of engineering of the ship and demonstrated that crews are safe, even under extreme conditions.
The new managing director of ADI, Mr Jean-Georges Malcor, said that Transfield and Thomson-CSF were committed to enhancing the technology and project management capabilities the company had demonstrated with the excellent progress of the minehunter project.
"Thomson-CSF in fact was a partner in the project long before it became involved in the privatisation of ADI," he said. "Its joint venture company, Thomson Marconi Sonar, is supplying the Huon Class ships with their variable depth minehunting sonar, a highly sophisticated system central to the mine detection capability. The sonar, which has been enhanced, can simultaneously search, detect, classify and route survey with maximum effectiveness in Australian waters including the tropical waters of our northern coastline."
The overall $1 billion minehunter project continues on schedule and within budget. The third ship, Norman, has been launched and starts sea trials in January 2000. Work is under way on the remaining three. Each of the Huon Class minehunters will provide the Navy with the most advanced mine warfare system of any ship in the world today.
The first of the minehunters, HMAS Huon is in service with the Navy.
Mr Malcor said ADI was set to become the first Australian defence company to offer customers around the world a range of cutting edge niche products and technologies.
"The new owners will provide the new technologies and skills and the international marketing expertise ADI needs to develop the globally competitive products and services vital to its continuing growth," he said. "We see ADI becoming the region's leading systems developer and integrator, a major force in product development, a recognised services company better able to compete for Department of Defence commercial support projects and a worldwide centre of excellence in heavy engineering and specialist vehicles. Currently more than 80% of the company's earnings come from the defence sector and a priority will be lifting commercial sector income."
ADI is owned under a 50 - 50 joint venture agreement between Transfield and Thomson-CSF. Transfield is one of the largest and most successful private companies in Australia, employing 7,000 people and achieving an annual turnover of $1.6 billion. It is a major developer, owner, operator and provider of engineering, construction, equipment and maintenance services. Its key areas of focus include infrastructure, power, industrial processes, defence and urban renewal.
Thomson-CSF is one of the world's top five defence contractors and the second largest in the United Kingdom. It is the world's No.1 exporter of defence aerospace electronics and a world leading producer of radars and countermeasures, missile electronics and systems, optronics, avionics, armaments and propulsion and communication and command systems. With an annual turnover of $11 billion, the company employs 50,000 people in 50 countries.
