Login
iscover
The firearms, weapons and munitions company announced its expansion into the United Kingdom during the Australian British Chamber of Commerce Defence Catalyst dinner.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
NIOA’s new UK office is expected to be located in Abbey Wood, Bristol, and enable the company to collaborate more closely with its existing British partners and identify new engagement opportunities.
Group chief executive officer Robert Nioa told the conference that the expansion was logical given the company’s existing presence in the US and Australian markets.
“As a company, we are committed to operationalising the industrial collaboration envisaged by our collective governments under the AUKUS agreement … and it’s not AUKUS without the UK,” he said.
“From an AUKUS technology exchange perspective, this completes our Australia, UK, US network.
“Our first engineers are on site, albeit in temporary desks while we get our building fitout finalised.
“Our intention is for this office building to also act as our European headquarters in support of all of the different NIOA Group businesses.
“We will be looking to build close relationships and support Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) in their objectives and also build close connections with other UK businesses for both UK and international-focused efforts.”
Australian British Defence Catalyst allows primes, militaries and thought leaders to unpack future collaboration and innovation efforts over three days.
Speakers included Australian High Commissioner Stephen Smith, who formerly served as Defence minister and co-authored last year’s Defence Strategic Review.
The news comes months after the Australian-owned firearms, weapons and munitions company announced that it had opened an office at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, home to a workforce of over 6,000, the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition as well as the Combat Capability Development Command Armaments Centre.
The opening of the US office was attended by Major General John T Reim, Commanding General of Picatinny Arsenal and joint program executive officer for armaments and ammunition.
“Opening a permanent office at the US Army’s centre for munitions research and technology provides a gateway for us to grow our presence in the US and work more closely with America’s longstanding allies, particular its AUKUS partners in the UK and Australia,” Nioa said of the opening.
“We are excited about the opportunities this will bring, not only for our company but for the broader goals of our allied defence forces.”
