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Defence contractor Thales Australia has welcomed the Australian federal government’s announcement of a $37.4 million contract for the manufacture of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems in Australia from 2025.
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Thales Australia, subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group, welcomes the sovereign guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise contract with Lockheed Martin Australia, according to Thales Australia chief executive officer Jeff Connolly.
Last week, the Australian government announced Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles are scheduled to commence domestic production from 2025 as part of a contract between Defence and Lockheed Martin Australia.
“This is big news for a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability – it’s great to see government commitment and congratulations to Lockheed Martin,” Connolly said.
“We at Thales stand ready to support this important national defence capability – we are deeply invested in domestic guided weapons capability.
“From rocket motor development, propulsion and payload, we want to do our part to help government and our industry partners realise the vision by 2025.”
In 2021, Thales Australia invested $6 million in new state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing equipment at the Commonwealth-owned Mulwala facility in regional NSW, to rapidly accelerate sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability.
The company’s investment in new large-scale preparation and mixing equipment is expected to enable a 500 per cent increase in the size of rocket motors to be manufactured at Mulwala, supporting production of advanced guided weapons and hypersonic weapons.
Thales Australia is the nation’s largest manufacturer of munitions, propellant, and military explosives and manages the government-owned, contractor-operated sites in Benalla, Victoria and Mulwala, NSW, employing over 650 skilled staff to manufacture munitions systems for the Australian Defence Force and allied forces.
Thales in Australia employs more than 4,300 people directly and supports over 2,051 job along its Australian supply chain. Since 2018, Thales Australia has spent over $1.9 billion with local Australian businesses.
Valued at $37.4 million, the agreement will see the prime contractor transfer technical data to Australia, build a domestic workforce, and establish production processes ahead of manufacturing an initial batch of GMLRS missiles and launch pod containers in Australia.
The GMLRS is compatible with HIMARS and the prime contractor has boasted that the capability has a 98 per cent accuracy rating, with a range of 15 to 70 kilometres and beyond. The United Sates’ Defense Security Cooperation Agency first gave Australia the greenlight to acquire the HIMARS in 2022.
Announced in 2021, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise was designed to enhance Australia’s security posture without having to rely on international supply chains for the delivery of critical munitions.
