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The prime has been selected to provide sustainment services for the Navy’s anti-submarine torpedo cache.
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The Commonwealth government has awarded a $20 million contract to Thales Australia for the provision of ongoing maintenance services for the Royal Australian Navy’s MU90 lightweight torpedoes.
The anti-submarine torpedoes have been sustained by Thales Australia at the Rockingham facility in Western Australia since entering service in 2013.
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price congratulated the prime, noting the benefits of the contract extension for Western Australia.
“This is yet another demonstration of the Morrison government’s commitment to building our sovereign defence capability,” Minister Price said.
“I am proud that Thales Australia has been awarded this contract to continue with the in-country, in-service support provided at its Rockingham facility in WA.
“Thales Australia is among many local defence businesses providing robust, secure domestic supply chains and high-tech jobs for working Australians.”
The government selected Thales following an assessment of a number of sustainment options.
“Thales is to be congratulated for again demonstrating the necessary skills and ability to provide this vital technical support,” Minister Price added.
Thales Australia has welcomed the contract extension, which it noted would continue to support jobs growth in Western Australia.
"The renewal of the in-service support contract for three years will be delivered utilising 100 per cent Australian industry capability (AIC), and will directly support jobs with Thales in Western Australia, and more in Thales’s local WA supply chain," a spokesperson said.
"Over the past decade, Thales has built a sovereign industrial capability in WA to ensure Australia has the capability to fully support the MU90 torpedo.
"In addition to the 140 people employed directly by Thales in Western Australia, a further 110 people are employed by Thales’s WA suppliers, according to recent analysis by Accenture. In 2020, Thales spent $23 million with 86 West Australian suppliers, almost three-quarters of them SMEs."
This latest award comes just a week after Rheinmetall Defence Australia (RDA) subcontracted Thales Australia to manufacture critical weapons components for the Australian Army’s new Boxer 8x8 combat reconnaissance vehicles, developed under the Commonwealth government’s LAND 400 Phase 2 program.
Specifically, Thales has been tasked with leveraging its Australian supplier base to deliver components for the Boxer’s MK 30-2 cannon, which will then be assembled at RDA’s Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Redbank, Queensland.
Thales has commenced production of the 30mm cannon components, leveraging the support of 16 current and new Australian SME suppliers, with approximately 50 per cent of the work to be completed by local SME.
[Related: Thales Australia wins Boxer CRV subcontract]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
