Subs deal could help boost manufacturing

Software company Siemens has pledged to help develop Australia's advanced manufacturing sector if Germany is selected to build the nation's next fleet of submarines.

Global vice president Chuck Grindstaff says a multi-million dollar software grant to Australia could establish a digital shipyard in Adelaide which would help transform the state into a hub for high-tech manufacturing and re-skill Australia's next generation of workers.

"It's no longer about who has the strongest back, but who best uses their brain and receives the best training in areas like mechanics, mechatronics, computers, software, design and engineering," Mr Grindstaff told an event in Adelaide on Wednesday.

German group ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is bidding against groups from France and Japan to produce Australia's next fleet of submarines.

It has proposed building an 89-metre submarine known as the Type 216 which has a range of 10,400 nautical miles and is designed to carry 18 torpedoes or anti-ship missiles.

The federal government is expected to announce the winning bid later this year.

Mr Grindstaff said the combination of Germany's industrial vision, access to advanced manufacturing technologies already in application in the US Navy, and Australia's innovation agenda would help re-tool Adelaide and Australia for the digital age of manufacturing.

"Put simply, I could see a rebirth of shipbuilding in Australia with flow-on effects to all industry and the potential to seed Australia's manufacturing renaissance," he said.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems Australia chairman John White said developing a shipbuilding centre of excellence in Australia would benefit all defence programs, by linking them to common software platforms.

"It would help connect the Royal Australian Navy to academic institutions and industry so we embed a continuous and sustainable hi-tech shipbuilding industry," Mr White said.