A Federal Government investment of $220 million will support local jobs and munitions production in Benalla.
Thales Australia welcomed the funding, which will benefit government owned company operated (GOCO) sites at Mulwala in regional NSW and the Rose City.
The investment is a vote of confidence in the capability of Australian industry to support the government’s objectives to build this important sovereign capability in Australia.
Federal Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the government’s investment in these cutting-edge technologies was vital.
“(It) demonstrates we are delivering on the Defence Strategic Review’s recommendations to develop advanced munitions manufacturing in Australia,” Mr Conroy said.
“The Mulwala and Benalla munition factories underpin Australia’s ability to develop critical propellants, explosives and munitions for the Australian Defence Force.”
For more than 25 years, Thales has supported the Australian Defence Force and strategic partners with core industrial capabilities for munitions and ordnance manufacture.
In that time, it has also guided weapons production, including the manufacture of high-performance propellants and explosives for warheads, solid fuel rocket motor manufacturing, associated research and development and support services.
Thales Australia and New Zealand CEO Jeff Connolly said he welcomed the funding.
“(It) will support the significant step-change in technology development and innovation necessary to continue to grow a highly skilled workforce and create the advanced manufacturing jobs of the future,” Mr Connolly said.
In 2021, Thales Australia invested $6 million in new state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing equipment at the Commonwealth-owned Mulwala facility to rapidly accelerate sovereign-guided weapons manufacturing capability.
The company’s investment in new large-scale preparation and mixing equipment will enable a 500 per cent increase in the size of rocket motors manufactured at Mulwala, supporting the production of advanced guided and hypersonic weapons.
“Thales’s investment in increasing Australia’s industrial capability is a clear demonstration of the company’s long-term commitment to growing and maintaining an enduring, sustainable and resilient sovereign industrial munitions capability,” Mr Connolly said
“And (to) be an indispensable partner to the Australian Defence Force in delivering them a strategic sovereign capability advantage.”
Thales Australia is the nation’s largest manufacturer of munitions, propellants and military explosives and manages the GOCO sites in Benalla and Mulwala, employing more than 650 skilled staff to manufacture munitions systems for the ADF and allied forces.