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The Land Forces 2018 Exposition in Adelaide earlier this month has broken attendance, exhibitor and delegation records.
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Land Forces 2018 chief executive Ian Honnery said the event had achieved its dual goals of providing a platform for interaction and promotion of Australian industry.
“Land Forces 2018 is unique in the region as a platform for engagement and exchange of ideas between Army, Defence, government, academia and industry, in the national interest,” Honnery said.
“It enables interaction with military professionals and companies from around the world. It is an important opportunity for Australian industry, particularly our small to medium enterprises (SMEs), to promote themselves to prime contractors, major suppliers and potential overseas customers.
“All indications are that Land Forces 2018 excelled in its main goals of enabling that engagement and of promoting Australian industry to the world, by bringing the world to Australia.”
The three-day exposition in the Adelaide Convention Centre ran from 4-6 September, combined Defence and Army conferences, technical and scientific seminars and symposia, and a defence industry exhibition promoting 624 companies from 26 countries.
It attracted a record total of 15,331 visitors over the period of the event, with visitors coming from throughout Australia and around the world.
Attendance was up substantially from the from the 13,450 in 2016.
Land Forces 2018 featured a 30 per cent increase in total exhibition space over the 2016 event.
A total of 624 companies participated as exhibitors, including 328 Australian SMEs.
That too was a substantial increase on the 501 exhibitor companies in 2016.
During the event there were 21 conferences, seminars and symposia, compared with 11 in 2016.
Land Forces was attended by 74 defence, trade and industry delegations from 36 countries, up from 66 in 2016. That included 31 foreign military delegations and 19 Australian military delegations.
The event featured the Chief of Army Land Seminar, the DST International Conference on Science and Innovation, Land Environment Working Group Defence Engagement With Industry Briefings, and the Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group Army Aviation Symposium.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo and Assistant Defence Minister David Fawcett all made presentations.
