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The South Australia-based SME is the latest local firm to join Lockheed Martin’s global mentoring program.
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Lockheed Martin has announced passive surveillance technology provider Silentium Defence will be the second Australian company to take part in its global Mentor Protégé Program (MPP).
The intensive 12-month program is set to facilitate access to Lockheed Martin’s leading subject matter experts across Australia and the United States.
This is expected to involve business development coaching and the provision of strategies and tools aimed at accelerating business growth and maturation across ethics, contracting, quality, cyber security and understanding ITAR.
Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand chief executive Warren McDonald said Silentium has been “hand-picked” to participate in the global mentoring opportunity.
“Lockheed Martin Australia actively identifies and supports homegrown ‘best of breed’ companies to join our global supply chains to bolster Australia’s defence industry’s sovereign industrial capability, grow the local workforce as well as help support companies to compete on the international stage,” he said.
“A robust, resilient and internationally competitive Defence industry is vital to Australia’s security and economic interests, and we are proud to support this national endeavour.”
Silentium Defence’s chief technology officer, Simon Palumbo, said participation in the program would support the company’s 10-year technology roadmap, which is targeting the integration of passive radars into the “evolving doctrine” of Defence’s situational awareness posture.
“Key to achieving that mission is a deep understanding of the mechanisms for scale, engagement, and export into priority international markets,” Palumbo said.
“We are grateful to leverage Lockheed Martin’s more than 70 years of experience in this area alongside key knowledge and relationships through the Mentor Protégé Program, to help accelerate the achievement of that goal.
“Passive radar is at a critical junction for Defence, recognised as a sovereign industrial capability priority. All three services have demonstrated the value of passive radar, and now is the time to expedite delivery into the hands of the people who can use it the most, our ADF and its allies.”
Lockheed Martin Australia’s head of industrial development, Christopher Hess, said this latest partnership builds on the work of the Office of Australian Industrial Participation (OAIP), which drives LMA’s national strategy to “match world-class solutions with business opportunities globally”.
“We are proud to have provided unprecedented opportunities to Australian industry meeting with over 3,500 companies, introducing some 400 new companies to the defence industry space as well as facilitating over 100 export contracts since 2012,” he said.
“The MPP is our flagship training program among many that help to grow Australia’s sovereign industrial capability, nurture innovation, and take Australia to the world.”
Silentium Defence’s participation follows the successful completion of Australian communications and electromagnetic spectrum operations provider Clearbox Systems’ 18-month MPP (extended due to COVID-induced disruption).
Greg Reid, executive director of Clearbox Systems, lauded the benefits of the program in bolstering the company’s defence industry footprint.
“Everything was tailored to us and our situation, so we were able to make use of the program immediately,” he said.
Since completing the program, Clearbox has secured two contracts with Lockheed Martin, and is supporting the prime’s bid for the JP9102 Military SATCOM project.
Lockheed Martin is looking to further expand its MPP, with a view to an annual intake.
[Related: Lockheed Martin Australia, Penten join forces for AIR6500]
