On 29 July 2026 the Australian Government announced that Leidos Gibbs and Cox Australia had been selected to lead the preliminary design of a contingency dry dock in Western Australia, describing the capability as a critical pre-condition of Australia receiving its first Virginia class submarine. The priced commitment behind that description is an initial-term contract value of A$13,558,164.54, recorded on the Commonwealth procurement register for a design and support services contract executed on 12 June 2026. Set against the A$12 billion the Government announced in September 2025 towards delivering the Defence Precinct at Henderson, that is roughly one part in nine hundred; set against the approximately A$25 billion which the same announcement reported would be required over the decade, roughly one part in eighteen hundred; set against the annual revenues of approximately US$17.2 billion reported by the designer’s parent for the fiscal year ended 2 January 2026, it is a fraction of one per cent of a single supplier’s turnover. The structural constraint is that none of the decisions which convert a design into a licensed, operable asset is held by the designer or by the department that engaged it. The question this report examines is where those decisions sit, what sequence they must follow, and whether that sequence can be completed inside the window the transfer timetable allows.