JFD Australia will provide the submarine rescue system for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for another four years after finalising a contract extension with the Australian Department of Defence, JFD announced on 25 February 2025.
JFD Australia has been the provider of the RAN’s submarine rescue system since 2009.
“The announcement ensures total continuity of this life-saving service, which is on standby and ‘rescue ready’ at all times to retrieve the crew of a disabled submarine anywhere in the world from JFD Australia’s national headquarters and advanced support centre at Bibra Lake in Perth, Western Australia,” JFD stated in a press release.
JFD Australia’s rescue system is designed to be air-transportable, which is a crucial aspect of submarine rescue in a country and region where size, geography and local conditions can be challenging.
“Keeping our submariners safe has always been our number-one priority and we are very pleased to be able to continue this commitment and support to the Navy,” Cathy Falkiner, managing director of JFD Australia, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “Importantly, JFD is able to both operate and sustain all elements of the system, which includes the piloted rescue vehicle that dives down to locate and transfer submariners from under the water to the ocean’s surface and a state-of-the-art hyperbaric equipment suite that can provide life-saving medical treatment, if needed.”
Of the six air-transportable submarine rescue systems in the world, JFD has the contracts to supply and support four of them: in Australia, in India (two systems) and for the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), making the company the world’s leading provider of submarine rescue systems.
