Thales Australia welcomes guided weapons announcement

Joint-capabilities

31 March 2021

By: Liam Garman

Thales Australia welcomes guided weapons announcement

Thales Australia welcomed the federal government's announcement this morning regarding the creation of a sovereign missile weapons production capability.

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The announcement is expected to provide crucial support to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and create a new sovereign industry, creating jobs across Australia.

Chris Jenkins, CEO of Thales Australia noted that the announcement will support Australian self-sufficiency, will provide a deterrent to potential malicious actors.

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“Thales Australia provides core industrial capabilities for guided weapons production including manufacture of high performance propellants and explosives for warheads, solid fuel rocket motor manufacturing and associated R & D and support services,” Jenkins said

“These critical munitions manufacturing capabilities are delivered by Thales Australia and our suppliers through the Commonwealth owned facility at Mulwala. Scaling up production of military-grade rocket propellant, high explosives, solid fuel rocket motors and boosters from Mulwala will be essential to achieve the ADF’s goal.

“The significant capital investment made by the Commonwealth in the Mulwala facility over the past decade, combined with Thales Australia’s multi-million dollar investment in R&D on advanced propellants means the facility can respond quickly to the accelerated plan outlined by the Prime Minister today.

“An expansion of the production capabilities at Mulwala is already underway with the acquisition of new production technology.

“We have well established relationships with international partners and an extensive local supply chain of more than 1300 Australian companies that will enable the expansion of these key industrial capabilities with additional investment. It will generate jobs in regional NSW and Victoria in addition to the more than 600 employees of Thales Australia across the Mulwala and Benalla munitions manufacturing sites.”

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Liam Garman

Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media

Liam began his career as a speech writer at New South Wales Parliament before working for world leading campaigns and research agencies in Sydney and Auckland. Throughout his career, Liam has managed and executed international media and communications campaigns spanning politics, business, industrial relations and infrastructure. He’s since shifted his attention to researching and writing extensively on geopolitics and defence. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Strategy and Security with Excellence from UNSW Canberra, with a thesis on post-truth, postmodernism and disinformation operations.

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