BITTER infighting has again erupted inside the nation's largest defence project, further delaying the construction of the navy's $8 billion air warfare destroyers and narrowly averting major job losses at a Melbourne shipyard.
The dispute, which threatened at least 300 manufacturing jobs at the Williamstown shipyard, was solved only late last week after the Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare, requested an explanation from the warring parties.
Sources say the stand-off, which has dragged on behind the scenes for months, is likely to delay construction of the hull blocks for the second AWD by at least two months. This is in addition to a delay of at least 12 months in the project due to faulty keel construction.
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