Supporting Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine sustainment capability at HMAS Stirling
At a glance
We supported the Security and Estate Group in delivering and sustaining nuclear-powered submarine support capability at HMAS Stirling between January 2022 and March 2025. The program focused on integrating maritime, maintenance, logistics and base infrastructure to support safe, secure and operationally effective submarine maintenance and support activities while providing the certainty needed to progress a complex and evolving capability program.
The challenge
The core challenge for Submarine Rotational Force (SRF) – West was to establish Australia’s first sovereign nuclear powered submarine sustainment capability within an existing operational base. This involved integrating new maritime, maintenance, logistics and support infrastructure while meeting stringent nuclear safety, security and regulatory requirements and coordinating across multiple stakeholders and concurrent works.
The program called for structured requirements capture and validation, stakeholder engagement, nuclear‑informed planning and regulatory pathway development, alongside the design of specialised facilities including controlled industrial facilities, wharf and pier upgrades, and supporting base infrastructure.
As capability requirements evolved, the program also required strong systems-level program integration, management of interfaces with concurrent projects and the delivery of secure, resilient and compliant infrastructure aligned to evolving operational and safety requirements.
Our response
We applied a Major Service Provide aligned delivery model that integrated requirements capture and definition, stakeholder engagement and governance and solution development within a safety critical, regulated environment. Through early capture and validation, we helped create greater clarity and alignment across Defence, regulators and industry, enabling informed decision-making as the program evolved.
We led the development of the nuclear regulatory and environmental approvals pathway, embedding nuclear safety, security and compliance requirements into planning and design from the outset.
In parallel, we delivered integrated design and systems engineering, coordinating specialised maritime and support infrastructure across multiple work packages and concurrent projects. This was supported by strong program integration, governance and risk management, alongside cost and schedule discipline to maintain delivery confidence.
We also mobilised a sovereign, multidisciplinary team to deliver flexible infrastructure solutions capable of adapting to evolving operational, regulatory and capability requirements.
The impact
The program helped de-risk and accelerate Australia’s first nuclear submarine sustainment capability by providing greater certainty around requirements, regulatory pathways and delivery priorities. Structured engagement improved alignment across Defence stakeholders, reducing ambiguity and enabling more confident decision-making.
At a program level, the approach strengthened coordination across design, safety and infrastructure workstreams, supporting timely progression through complex nuclear and environmental approvals.
Overall, the program established a robust, integrated foundation for delivery, reducing integration risk, improving certainty across scope and approvals and help position Defence to deliver critical sovereign sustainment capability with greater certainty.