NSW supports jobs growth at Thales Lithgow

The New South Wales government has made available a $1.12 million grant from the NSW Regional Job Creation Fund Round 2 to help Thales Australia grow its advanced manufacturing capability in regional New South Wales.

The funding will be matched dollar for dollar by Thales and will be invested in modern manufacturing capability and equipment at Thales’ historic Lithgow defence manufacturing site which has been in operation since 1912.

Thales welcomed the grant and aims to create an additional 56 jobs to increase production capacity on both military and civil manufacturing lines, as well support export growth over the next three years.

Lithgow Arms currently exports its world-leading small arms to 17 countries and has been a key industrial partner to the Australian Defence Force providing small arms and weapons systems, as well as logistics and sustainment, for more than a century.

Thales Australia and New Zealand vice president Corry Roberts said, “It’s great to see the NSW Government supporting NSW Defence businesses like Thales Australia to help ensure critical engineering and manufacturing skills remain in the state.

“Lithgow Arms is the only small arms manufacturing capability of its type in Australia and we are proud to be a major employer in regional NSW. Our workforce is highly skilled and multigenerational.”

This grant further builds on Thales Australia’s $70 million investment over the past decade to develop the Lithgow facility, including a new $6.5 million building currently under construction at the site.

The new building will house a modern manufacturing and integration hub for the design, development and precision manufacture of next generation weapons systems for the ADF and export customers.

Picture: Thales Lithgow

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