Six SMEs win naval missile contracts

BAE Systems Australia has announced ‘significant contract awards’ to six Australian SMEs as part of the delivery of hardware and software sub-assemblies for the global Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) programme. BAE Systems and Australian industry partners will deliver sub-assemblies into Block 2 of the ESSM programme under a new three-year full rate production contract with…

Navy to acquire Ocius Bluebottle drones

The Royal Australian Navy has signed contracts to acquire five Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels (USVs) from Australian manufacturer Ocius. In the last 15 months, five Bluebottles under a Defence Innovation Hub contract have already completed nearly 23,000 nautical miles at sea , the equivalent to around the world at the equator. The deal to deliver…

WA and Canberra sign skills agreement

The Australian and Western Australian Governments have signed a 12-month Skills Agreement to address the current skills shortage and deliver Fee Free TAFE and more vocational education places for Western Australians. The Agreement will inject more than $112 million into the Western Australian skills and training sector, and includes approximately 18,800 Fee Free TAFE and…

Mars Bars go for paper based packaging

Mars Bars, Snickers and Milky Way will debut locally-created sustainable packaging in 2023 with the launch of recyclable paper based wrappers. Manufacturer Mars Wrigley Australia today committed to transition all chocolate bars made at its Ballarat, Victoria site to a new paper-based packaging that can be recycled via traditional kerbside recycling. In a world first…

Carbonix to supply drones to Fugro

Dutch surveying and geotechnical services company Fugro is partnering with Australian drone manufacturer Carbonix to establish a new Australian long-range drone capability. In what is Fugro’s first partnership working towards long-range Beyond Visual Line of Sight missions (BVLoS), Carbonix will supply Volanti (pictured) and Ottano vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones over the next 27…

UniSQ researchers attract $1.1 million funding

The Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme is to support research at the University of Southern Queensland ranging from extreme weather-resistant building materials to next-generation advanced composites and fine tuning cybersecurity systems. Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer Judi Zielke PSM announced more than $221 million under its Discovery Projects scheme. UniSQ’s successful initiatives…