The Group CEO of the biggest Australian-owned supplier of military munitions has laid out a detailed plan to mobilise the nation’s defence industrial base, emphasising “it’s time for urgency, optimism and action”. Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra, NIOA Group CEO Robert Nioa released a report which calls on the Australian Government to…
By Peter Roberts The federal government has moved to secure the future of Austal’s Perth shipbuilding operation and its Henderson yard (pictured) in Western Australia. Defence has entered into a new strategic partnership with Austal which will see 18 of the Army’s new Landing Craft Medium built at Henderson. Austal will also deliver two new…
The federal government has announced a continuation of Thales Australia’s long standing role maintaining Royal Australian Navy ships with a new $2 billion contract to maintain and sustain Australia’s naval fleet in Sydney. French-owned Thales Australia has been appointed as the Regional Maintenance Provider for the new Regional Maintenance Centre East at Defence’s Garden Island…
Defence contractors Austal, Civmec and Navantia Australia have partnered to offer the navy a proposal to deliver six corvettes, a so-called Tier 2 type vessel to complement larger frigates and destroyers. Designed by Navantia, the Tasman class corvette combines the manoeuvrability of a Tier 2 vessel, with the powerful weaponry of a major surface combatant,…
By Peter Roberts In the face of criticism that Australia is building the wrong type of naval vessel in a time of rising tension, BAE Systems Australia has revealed a more lethal, attack version of the Hunter class frigate it is building in Adelaide. Conceived as a largely anti-submarine vessel, the nine Hunter class frigates…
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…
The construction of offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the Royal Australian Navy by Luerssen Australia is the latest to be listed a Defence Project of Concern by the federal government. The construction of Arafura-class OPVs has experienced delays in delivery of both the vessels and the associated support system, with schedule delays first emerging in…
Queensland munitions manufacturer NIOA has begun production of 30mm ammunition for the Army’s next-generation armoured Boxer combat reconnaissance (CRV) vehicle, marking a new high for munitions manufacturing in Australia. The company will produce 40,000 rounds of medium calibre training ammunition at the Commonwealth Government-owned NIOA-operated plant in Benalla, Victoria for the eight-wheeled Boxer, which is…