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Western Australian defence businesses are being offered a pathway into the growing global undersea warfare market, with Defence West seeking local SMEs to join a state delegation at Undersea Defence Technology Australia 2026 in Adelaide.
Western Australian businesses are being encouraged to pursue new opportunities in the global undersea defence market, with the Cook government calling for expressions of interest from local small and medium-sized businesses to join a Defence West industry delegation.
The delegation will attend Undersea Defence Technology Australia 2026 in Adelaide from 2–4 December, with up to 2,000 defence, industry and research representatives expected to attend the event.
Held in Australia for the first time, the conference will focus on emerging undersea technologies across autonomy, applications, agility and human factors.
Selected WA businesses will join Defence West’s stand, providing an opportunity to showcase their capabilities and engage directly with international defence companies, governments and research organisations.
The initiative comes as Australia substantially expands investment in undersea warfare and submarine capability, including through AUKUS and the establishment of a nuclear-powered submarine industrial base.
WA is positioning itself to capture a growing share of that investment, leveraging established strengths in remote operations, autonomous systems, advanced engineering and maritime technologies.
Premier and Defence Industries Minister Roger Cook said the delegation would help connect WA businesses with international partners.
“WA has strong and growing defence capabilities, and this delegation will help showcase them to key international partners, creating new opportunities for WA businesses and WA workers,” Premier Cook said.
He said WA is already a global leader in remote operations and autonomous systems “from deep sea to deep space”.
“This initiative puts those strengths in front of the world and positions our defence industry for future work,” Premier Cook said.
The opportunity extends beyond Australia’s immediate submarine programs, with undersea autonomy, sensing, communications, robotics and remotely operated systems becoming increasingly important to allied navies.
For WA companies, establishing relationships with international primes and defence organisations could provide pathways into global supply chains rather than limiting businesses to domestic contracts.
Minister assisting the Minister for Defence Industries Amber-Jade Sanderson said the initiative would also support the state’s workforce requirements.
“We know we will need an additional 4,000 workers in the defence industry sector over the next 10 years,” Minister Sanderson said.
She said Defence West’s participation would give WA businesses “important exposure on a global scale”.
The Cook government is seeking eligible WA SMEs with core capabilities in undersea defence technology to participate, with expressions of interest closing at 5pm AWST on 4 September.
For Western Australia, the push comes as the state seeks to establish itself as a major national hub for naval sustainment, submarine operations and advanced maritime industry.
Successfully connecting local technology companies with international undersea supply chains could therefore complement the state’s growing role in AUKUS while creating export opportunities well beyond Australia’s own submarine programs.
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