By Peter Roberts Until now the talk in defence circles has been about the possibility that fewer than the planned nine Hunter class frigates might be built at a new shipyard at Osborne in Adelaide (pictured). This is something that has kept Adelaide manufacturers, already reeling from Australia’s recent on-again, off again submarine policies, awake…
Engineers who once worked on Australia’s now grounded fleet of Taipan helicopters have volunteered to rebuild the aircraft for use by Ukraine rather than dispose of them by disassembly, according to media reports. Australia’s taipans have had a troubled history, never meeting defence performance criteria since their acquisition from 2007. However now they will be…
Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite has rejected media criticism quoting military sources that defence urgently needs to add killer drones to its arsenal to give Australian forces a fighting chance on the modern battlefield. Responding on radio Thistlethwaite said: “The Australian Defence Force is investing in new drone technology and I’ve seen that firsthand.…
Aerial drones will be testsed as part of a federal government initiative aimed at supporting innovation and delivering capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). A total of 11 companies have signed contracts to provide a prototype of a drone, known as an uncrewed aerial system (UAS), for demonstration in April along with a production…
The US Marine Corps has selected Port Macquarie maritime engineer Birdon Group‘s advanced Heavy Landing Craft – H260 design to be part of a test and evaluation exercise focused on the missions it envisions Marines executing in the future. The H-260, a long-range, shallow draft, independent vessel, shares a common lineage to Birdon’s proposed Heavy…
Australia has extended a Counter Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) threats Prime Vendor contract between Babcock Australasia and the Commonwealth. The new three-year contract extension of approximately $37 million supports 132 different types of Counter CBRNE equipment, including explosive ordnance disposal equipment, unmanned ground vehicles and chemical detection systems. Babcock supports Defence to…
The Australian Army has conducted its first live-fire of the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) at the Woomera test range in South Australia. While the NASCAMS system, in service globally including in Ukraine, is Norwegian, the Army has integrated unique radar technology from Canberra’s CEA Technologies into its Australian systems. The firing…
Australian-owned defence prime NIOA has signed an agreement with US rocket and hypersonics company Aerojet Rocketdyne to explore the manufacturing of critical guided weapons components in Australia. The agreement anticipates the future assembly and manufacture of rocket motors, boosters and warheads for munitions within the Aerojet Rocketdyne portfolio which covers a wide range of weapons…
The Royal Australian Navy has deepened his focus on autonomous and uncrewed systems, holding the two week Exercise Autonomous Warrior underway at Jervis Bar in New South Wales. Such systems are seen by many as a replacement for traditional manned systems and by others as the future complement to an evolved Australian Defence Force, operating…
A reopened export import Point Wilson Wharf in the Geelong region of Victoria initially focused on defence industries has created new avenues for value-added exports. The 2.3 kilometre Point Wilson Wharf, the second largest in the southern hemisphere, was refurbished and reopened in a bid to increase guided weapons and explosive ordnance stocks for the…
