Login
iscover
Lockheed Martin Australia, in partnership with Thales Australia, has conducted the successful test detonation of four locally designed warheads at the Mulwala munitions facility in NSW.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The success of this activity marks a key milestone in developing Australia’s domestic guided weapon warhead production capability; critically, it serves as a crucial demonstration of Australian industry’s capacity to design, manufacture, and test production-quality warhead technologies.
James Heading, director and general manager, missiles and fire control, Lockheed Martin Australia, emphasised the importance of the project in advancing technologies and capabilities in support of the government’s objectives under the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, and building a sustainable industry base in Australia.
The successful demonstration is the first test conducted under the recently established teaming agreement between Lockheed Martin and Thales Australia.
Heading explained, “This is important work. Investment in research and development projects, like this one, serve as a pathfinder to future technology transfer, and advancements in knowledge and capabilities.”
Lockheed Martin and Thales have a long history of collaboration in Australia, and the expertise and resources to deliver world-class advanced weapon capabilities, additionally, the warhead tests saw the use of a range of new materials and manufacturing techniques and the comparative testing of multiple designs, which will serve as the foundation for future developments.
Duncan Watt, Thales Australia’s key account manager for GWEO, celebrated the success of this milestone, saying, “This successful demonstration of a GMLRS-relevant high-explosive warhead underscores the accelerated progress achieved through our collaborative teaming agreement with Lockheed Martin. This is a significant step towards our vision of establishing domestic manufacturing capabilities for guided weapon warheads in Australia.”
This collaboration is focused on advancing the development and production of solid rocket motors and warheads for the global market, another highlight of this program is the rapid development of the demonstrator, completed in just 10 weeks, which underscores the advanced technical expertise and strong partnership between Lockheed Martin and Thales and Australia’s defence industrial base more broadly.
The outcomes from the test firing of the demonstration warheads were highly positive, surpassing expectations.
This Internal Research and Development project positions Lockheed Martin Australia and Thales Australia to offer future options to the Commonwealth as part of the next phases of the Guided Weapons Production Capability industry uplift in 2025.
Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1,600 people in Australia working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, Defence and civil sectors.
Thales in Australia and New Zealand is a trusted partner of the Australian Defence Force across the Land, Sea and Air domains. Thales employs over 4,300 people in Australia and supports over 2,000 jobs along its Australian supply chain.
Since 2020, Thales has managed Defence’s Strategic Domestic Munitions Manufacturing (SDMM) capability, guaranteeing the Australian manufacture and supply of strategic munitions to the Australian Defence Force.
