The Australian defense ministry and French shipbuilder Naval Group have reached another step in the Royal Australian Navy’s Future Submarine program with the signing of the design contract on March 5.

The design contract was signed less than a month after the Strategic Partnering Agreement was signed, and just days after the signing of the Framework Agreement between Naval Group Australia and ASC.

Australian defense minister noted that this is the first deal the Commonwealth and Naval Group are signing under the SPA.

“The detailed architecture for the hull, including the placement of main systems, will be developed under this key contract,” minister Pyne said.

Defense industry minister Linda Reynolds said the contract is worth $605 million and will see design work progress through to 2021.

“The timeframe for the submarine design contract takes into account the detailed design work required, ensuring we have a mature design which avoids costly rework,” minister Reynolds said.

The scope for this phase of work includes the ongoing maturation of the Attack-class design as it progresses into the next design phase known as the definition phase. This will include the source selection of over 100 critical and main equipment that will contribute to the submarine design solution.

The design contract also includes ongoing preparations for the build of the Attack-class in the Osborne shipyard in South Australia, including ongoing support to Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI) for the design and build of the Submarine Construction Yard and the ICT systems that will be employed in there.