Head appointed for guided weapons enterprise

The federal government has appointed the head of the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise who will be responsible for accelerating the establishment of a local long-range guided weapons and munitions manufacturing industry in Australia.

The Defence Strategic Review recommended the appointment of a Senior Officer with the sole responsibility of leading the GWEO Enterprise, reporting directly to the Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Australian Defence Force.

Today the government announced the appointment of the inaugural Chief of the GWEO Group, Air Vice-Marshal Leon Phillips OAM (pictured, below), the current Head of Aerospace.

Air Vice-Marshal Phillips will be promoted to Air Marshal and will commence his new role on 8 May 2023.

Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy congratulated Air Vice-Marshal Phillips on his appointment.

Conroy said: “Air Vice-Marshal Phillips has over 36 years of experience in the Royal Australian Air Force predominantly delivering highly complex aerospace projects and managing their in-service support.

“He has a strong track record of establishing effective partnerships with defence industry.”

An engineer and project manager, Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Phillips has over 30 years of experience in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), predominantly delivering highly complex aerospace projects and managing their in-service support.

He has been responsible for acquisition and sustainment of capabilities such as the AP-3C Orion, P-8A Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton, PC-9 and PC-21 training capabilities, B300 King Air, E-7 Wedgetail and fleet wide enabling aerospace materiel.

A key recommendation of the Defence Strategic Review was to accelerate and expand weapons systems, including land-based maritime strike and long-range missile launchers – to be complemented by investments to replenish our GWEO stocks and to establish sovereign missile and munition manufacturing facilities in Australia.

In response, the Albanese Government has committed $2.5 billion over the forward estimates for GWEO, an increase of more than $1.5 billion.

This investment will help fund the manufacture of guided weapons and their critical components to improve the ADF’s self-reliance and Australia’s export capacity.