Thomas Global Systems to supply tank trainer

Defence electronics contractor Thomas Global Systems will be Prime System Integrator for the Australian Army’s M1A2 Abrams battle tank Immersive Tactical Trainer (ITT). With Australia buying 75 M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBT), Thomas Global will establish a new advanced manufacturing facility in Newington, NSW, to deliver 16 Immersive Tactical Trainers. Thomas Global Systems will…

Forrest upgrades Fortescue Future Industries, appoints new CEO

Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group has announced a reorganisation which upgrades its Fortescue Future Industries offshoot within the group, at the same time announcing the appointment of senior global executives and a new executive who will become FFI’s future CEO. The company said the reorganisation would transition the company to a truly global company. In…

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

From landfill to useful rail infrastructure The Victorian Government will invest $1.6 million to install a new production line that will process used plastic bags into durable railway sleepers as part of its Recycling Modernisation Fund. The Integrated Recycling facility in Mildura, where Duratrack railway sleepers made from 85 per cent recycled plastic will be…

Industry backing for large satellite manufacturing

A $71 million investment will go ahead to establish a genuinely Australian-owned Satellite Manufacturing Hub in New South Wales. The facility will be Australia’s first commercial hub for larger satellites up to 500kg in weight, able to carry advanced optical instruments, and focused on building Earth observation satellites. A collaborative venture with government and leading…

Tekt Industries funded to support semiconductor supply chain

Product development, manufacturing and commercialisation specialist Tekt Industries has won a federal government Supply Chain Resilience Grant to improve local support for the semiconductor and printed circuit board sectors. The grant supports an investment in over $1.4 million in new equipment at the company’s Abbotsford, Melbourne facility, including 100 nanometre level high resolution X-Ray inspection…

Business involvement to the fore in new Trailblazer programme

While the university sector has dominated news of those to benefit from the federal government’s Trailblazer Universities Program, industry involvement is becoming increasingly obvious and transformational. iLAUNCH hub, involving the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), the Australian National University (ANU) and UniSA, has now revealed details of industry research partnerships to be funded under the…

Wrightbus and Volgren to produce hydrogen-electric buses

Australia’s largest bus body manufacturer Volgren has signed a technology deal to bring the UK’s Wrightbus’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrain to Australia. The two companies will manufacture two zero-emission hydrogen single deck buses which will be the first European-Australian hydrogen combination in the country. They hope the vehicles will demonstrative an alternative to battery electric…