Login
iscover
Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has officially opened Thales Australia’s new Lithgow arms facility, marking a milestone in the company’s plans to transform its Lithgow facility into an advanced manufacturing 4.0 and integration hub for the next generation of Australian designed small arms and weapons systems.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
This purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility, marks the first phase of Thales Australia's plans to transform the Lithgow Arms facility, combining and integrating traditional precision manufacturing and digital technologies as part of the company's Industry 4.0 transition.
The site continues Lithgow's historic relationship with small arms manufacturing in Australia and will utilise novel manufacturing technologies including 3D printing, and will include the installation of automated electro-plating and other metal treatment capabilities.
With over a century of small arms production the site will continue to play a critical role in Australia’s future small arms production, Julie Brown, Vice President of Land, Thales Australia and New Zealand said.
It also includes a new purpose-built live firing test and evaluation capability which is designed to support systems qualification and integration as well as the acceleration of research and development of digitised small-arms and weapon systems platforms.
“Thales Australia is a proud and committed steward of sovereign industrial capability in this country, and has taken this role seriously since our acquisition of ADI more than two decades ago,” Brown explained.
The purpose-built facility will also support collaboration across research institutions, SME partners, and key industrial partners to create the soldier systems and small arms of the future, as well as train the next generation of skilled advanced manufacturing workers in the central west of New South Wales.
Brown added, “Lithgow Arms is the home of the only small arms manufacturing capability in Australia and we are proud to be a major employer in regional NSW. Our workforce is highly skilled and multi generational.”
The enhanced site is also expected to support collaboration between industry and academia to develop future soldier systems and small arms while building the advanced manufacturing workforce of tomorrow.
“Lithgow Arms has a proud and distinguished 110-year history of sovereign small arms production for Defence and this is part of a plan for the next phase of production.”
Since 1912, Lithgow has proudly supported Australia’s soldiers on battlefields around the world, from Gallipoli and Fromelles, Pozières to North Africa, Borneo and Kokoda, throughout the Cold War and beyond, during Australia's engagements in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, Australian troops have carried weapons made in Lithgow.
Thales Australia's Lithgow Arms is a local business employing over 140 people in regional New South Wales. Lithgow Arms works with over 120 Australian SMEs, with more than 90 per cent of content used in production, either sourced from local Australian businesses or made on site.
Over the past decade more than AU$75 million has been invested in site infrastructure and equipment to modernise small arms manufacturing in Australia. Lithgow Arms currently exports small arms to 17 countries.
