A new partnership between the South Australian Government and the United States’ largest shipbuilder, HII, will accelerate the development of the state’s defence industry workforce, skills and supply chain. The Memorandum of Understanding between the South Australian Government and HII’s newly formed Australian entity, HII Nuclear Australia Pty Ltd, was signed on 13 November in Adelaide. The MoU outlines an arrangement to work together, leveraging HII’s international expertise to ready South Australia for major shipbuilding projects on the horizon. The parties will work with local companies, academia and education providers to develop a skilled workforce and strengthen Australia’s industry capability, ...

South Australian passive surveillance technology company, Silentium Defence, has become the second Australian company to graduate from the Lockheed Martin Mentor Protégé Program (MPP), bolstering the nation’s sovereign capability. Only the second company outside of the United States (US) to complete the MPP, the program has armed Silentium Defence with the knowledge and tools necessary to accelerate its business growth, enhance its organisational maturity and contribute to the strength of Australia’sindustrial defence capability. Over an intensive 12-month period, Silentium Defence received guidance and support from Lockheed Martin’s foremost subject matter experts across the US and Australia, covering critical business areas ...

Adelaide-based industrial refrigeration leader, Cold Logic, has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by BAE Systems Australia to construct cold and cool rooms for the first batch of Hunter class frigates. Cold Logic will partner with UK company Ernest West & Beyson (EWB) for the project, leveraging EWB’s experience in supplying into the Type 26 program for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, which is the reference design for the frigates being built at Osborne Naval Shipyard. The contract includes the construction of a refrigerated storeroom, which includes a cold room, cool room, refrigerated airlock and dairy room, and refrigeration machinery. ...

South Australia’s world-class defence industry capabilities will be on show at this year’s international maritime exposition, Indo Pacific 2023, which docks in Sydney from 7-9 November. A record-breaking delegation of South Australian defence industry will turn out for this year’s expo, with more than 80 companies participating on the South Australia – The Defence State stand. Defence SA Chief Executive Richard Price said this is the largest delegation the agency had hosted at any trade show in its history. “The demand to join this year’s Defence State delegation surpassed our expectations and reflects the commitment, capability and momentum building across ...

Quantum technology firm, QuantX Labs, has launched a breakthrough concept in defence innovation, with the opening of its collaborative workspace, RavensNest. RavensNest was officially opened by South Australian Premier the Hon Peter Malinauskas MP and Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro. The new capability accelerator is set to super-charge the local defence innovation ecosystem by allowing industry to work alongside defence and university researchers, as well as the Australian Defence Force. The environment has been designed to offer the opportunity for transformative technologies to be fast-tracked from research through to sovereign capability, answering the most urgent problems for Defence ...

South Australian leader in passive radar technology, Silentium Defence, has announced its first US sales of the MAVERICK M8 passive radar system and establishment of a US entity.   This marks a key milestone in the company’s global growth strategy, and will enable Silentium to provide responsive customer engagement, and capitalise on recent momentum across the Defence, national security and intelligence sectors. Silentium Defence CEO Dr James Palmer, said it was an exciting moment for Silentium, as well as Australia’s defence export industry. “To see uniquely Australian developed capability in the hands of US customers is proof we can build ...

Confidence in South Australia’s growing defence industry is driving new investments and expanding capability across the supply chain. South Australia has an expert defence industry with the experience to play a critical role in providing the capabilities our nation needs. Seven of the world’s top 10 defence companies and a growing community of 400+ defence SMEs have operations in the state. The announcement that South Australia will be the future home of Australia’s next-generation submarine build has understandably attracted a lot of attention across the maritime sector however there are many other projects across domains such as land, aerospace, cyber, ...

A new collaborative centre at The University of Adelaide is set to accelerate research into the high frequency (HF) radar technology that plays a critical role in the country’s safety. The JORN Open Innovation Network (JOIN) Centre for Advanced Defence Research in HF Technology (CADR-HFT) was established by the University, the Department of Defence and BAE Systems Australia. The establishment of the Centre is set to develop the highly specialised workforce required to underpin the world-leading capability in HF systems and Over-The-Horizon-Radar (OTHR) for the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN). JORN – which is currently being upgraded and managed by ...

South Australia has a well-deserved reputation as the nation’s Defence State, responsible for the largest, most complex naval shipbuilding and Defence projects. That leadership – and the growth of the local workforce – is set to be propelled to a whole new level, with the announcement that South Australia will be home to Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine build. Children who are currently in primary school across Australia, will be the professionals working on and leading the submarine program in the future. The workforce required to safely and securely build, operate, sustain and regulate Australia’s conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet is diverse. It ...

REDARC Defence & Space has announced a new partnership with ST Engineering Advanced Networks & Sensors Pte Ltd to provide vehicle electronic solutions to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Londsdale-based REDARC has assessed Singapore’s ST Engineering’s suite of electronic solutions and deemed them competitive and appropriate for the ADF, having been fully tested and qualified in accordance with the standards required. REDARC also have the manufacturing and testing infrastructure required to facilitate the building and testing of the products locally as required, further building Australian capabilities and boosting the company’s Adelaide workforce. REDARC Defence & Space General Manager, Scott Begbie, ...

South Australian-based leader in modern electronic warfare, Asension, has inked an agreement with UK company Gaddon to distribute its flagship product, Wombat. A specialist in radio frequency equipment training, Gaddon will represent the product in the UK market, providing support to both new and existing customers. The Wombat is Asension's premier product offering, setting new benchmarks in electronic warfare capabilities. The Smart Sensor Suite provides capability for multiple RF applications with high-speed data analysis and monitoring capability, making it an indispensable asset for a wide range of operational scenarios. Marking the occasion at September’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) ...

The first hand-picked cohort of students have commenced UniSA’s new Global Executive MBA in Defence and Space, a program specially designed to build highly qualified talent across the AUKUS alliance. Targeted at executives and senior managers in the defence and space sectors from Australia, the UK and US, the first members to undergo the 18-month program span across defence contractors and subject matter experts, senior members of the ADF and allied countries, and civil servants. The MBA will address critical skills gaps in cyber security, space systems, geopolitics and defence procurement while also building highly sought after leadership capability across ...