Shipbuilder ASC to shed more than 100 jobs

Adelaide-based shipbuilder ASC has sacked more than 100 workers as it grapples with uncertainty over government contracts.

About 70 Air Warfare Destroyer and 40 Collins Class submarine jobs will be cut next month after a six-week consultation period.

"Whilst it is always a difficult decision to let people go, this is a necessary action to ensure we are able to meet the operational and performance demands of our projects," ASC said in a statement on Wednesday.

"ASC stands ready, willing and able to take part in future submarine and shipbuilding projects and continues to maintain the capability to do so."

The extent to which ASC benefits from the $56 billion future submarines program won't be known until later this year, when either Japan, Germany or France is announced as the builder.

With the first of the new subs due to enter service in the early 2030s, the key issue for ASC is securing enough ongoing work to sustain its workforce.

The shipbuilder has cut more than 900 workers since November 2014 as it confronts the "valley of death" between current and future work.

The new Defence White Paper has confirmed that nine new frigates will be built in SA from 2020 but the project remains subject to a competitive evaluation process.

It's understood there is uncertainty about the number of ASC workers that will be required for the frigates depending on which bidder is selected.

The White Paper also promised 12 new offshore patrol vessels would be built from 2018 but did not specify a location.

This has stoked fears within government and industry ranks that another state, such as Western Australia, will be chosen to build the vessels and could also snatch the frigates work.

"We need the offshore patrol vessels to be dedicated to Adelaide," SA Defence Industries Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

"That's work that will start in 2018. It would save jobs at Osborne today."