Login
iscover
The New Zealand Defence Force and Thales Australia’s Australian Munitions (AM) business have signed an agreement to continue the supply of small arms ammunition and explosive ordnance to the NZDF to 2037.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The new agreement includes the design and manufacture of bespoke small arms munitions including the 5.56mm training round F262T, a new product designed by AM in collaboration with the NZDF as a low-cost training cartridge tuned for optimal performance, and the NZDF Lewis Machine Tool MARS-L platform.
Dion Habner, managing director of Australian Munitions, welcomed the announcement, saying, "I am delighted that the NZDF has chosen to continue our decade-long partnership. We will continue working to deliver high quality products for the NZDF well into the future."
The 5.56mm training cartridge and others have been designed by AM to specifically meet the NZDF’s evolving capability requirements, suitable to meet littoral and amphibious needs for a full range of training situations.
AM is a business of Thales Australia and is the largest supplier of explosive ordnance to the Australian Defence Force, with a successful track record delivering ammunition, propellants, explosives and related services.
The company is also a principal supplier of small arms ammunition to the NZDF. AM also produces high quality propellant and ammunition for military and civilian domestic and international customers.
AM can trace its ammunition heritage back to the late 19th century, through the establishment of the Colonial Ammunition Company in Victoria, and played a key role restructuring the Australian munitions manufacturing industry landscape over the final decade of the 20th century.
Manufacturing is based at two main regional sites – Benalla in Victoria and Mulwala in NSW. The Benalla site produces ammunition, explosive ordnance and other munitions, while the Mulwala site focuses on high quality propellants and explosives.
AM is a manufacturer of military grade propellants, high explosives, pyrotechnics, small arms ammunition, medium/large calibre munitions, aerial delivered ordnance, grenades and explosive charges.
