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Melbourne-based APV Safety Products has been awarded a contract to supply seat belt harnesses for the US Marine Corps.
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Under the contract, APV will supply 1,000 seat belt harnesses to Arizona's ArmorWorks Enterprises, a move Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said builds on APV's success in the North American market.
"APV’s Australian-designed and manufactured harnesses integrate into blast-absorbing seating to offer the highest levels of survivability and safety," Minister Pyne said.
"This success is yet another win for Australia’s defence industry, and demonstrates the innovation and global competitiveness of our small to medium enterprises."
As a former supplier to Australia's dwindling automotive industry, Minister Pyne said APV is a good example of an Australian company diversifying itself to supply to the defence industry, not only at home, but also abroad.
“APV formerly supplied the Australian car industry, and so this is a great example of an automotive business diversifying into other industries and it is exciting to see an Australia company playing a key role in keeping Australian and US troops safe in front line combat vehicles," Minister Pyne said.
The minister added that APV’s access to North American defence supply chains has been facilitated by their participation in the Centre for Defence Industry Capability managed Global Supply Chain (GSC) program, which aims to provide opportunities for Australian small-to-medium sized companies to compete for work in the supply chains of international defence prime contractors.
"To date, the participating GSC primes have awarded close to $1 billion of work to predominantly small-to-medium sized enterprises in Australia," the minister said.
"This work has been won on merit, highlighting the strength and innovative capabilities of Australian companies."
In recent weeks, the GSC has delivered contracts to two Australian SMEs that will now work on the UK's Type 26 Global Combat Ship being built by BAE Systems.
In November, Tasmania's Liferaft Systems Australia and Victoria's Mackay Consolidated Industries, were awarded the Type 26 contracts, which will see Liferaft Systems Australia provide the Type 26 Marine Evacuation System, while Mackay Consolidated Industries will supply pipe hanger inserts, a key component in reducing underwater noise that is essential for anti-submarine warfare.
