The Australian defence company is responsible for sustaining the nation’s six diesel-electric submarines that are now expected to remain in service for the Royal Australian Navy until 2040.

Plans to replace the ageing subs – the ASC built and delivered to the navy in Australia between 1996 and 2003 – with a French-designed submarine were scuttled by the former Morrison Government.

An agreement to instead buy nuclear submarines from the United States or the United Kingdom has led to hundreds of jobs being lost in South Australia as Naval Group, the company working through plans to build the new submarines in Adelaide, was dismantled.

ASC managing director and chief executive officer Stuart Whiley said the new hub was expected to place ASC staff at the “centre of activity in Adelaide’s CBD, and create even more two-way links with universities and new technology businesses”.

“The rapid evolution of technology in industries that are adjacent to defence provides opportunities to collaborate on projects that can drive improvements in shipyard safety, the performance of Collins Class submarines and assist in optimising Life of Type Extension,” he said.

ASC staff and visiting experts across its engineering team would be based at the Lot Fourteen office, with planned future research projects for ASC’s science and technology program including robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, knowledge management and machine learning.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the “close proximity to universities makes Lot Fourteen the perfect location for ASC’s city hub” and would create more links with universities and technology businesses.

“My government is committed to setting up the workforce of the future, which is why we’re backing Lot Fourteen,” he said.