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Adelaide SME Supashock announced a partnership with defence giant Rheinmetall Defence on Monday. Now, the Adelaide SME is looking forward as it prepares to enter the global supply chain and increase its export opportunities.
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Supashock, which designs, develops and manufactures state of the art active shock absorbers for motorsport and heavy mining applications to improve safety, ride quality and loading operations, signed an agreement Monday that saw Rheinmetall Defence acquire 49 per cent of the company.
Supashock's managing director Oscar Fiorinotto said the agreement will help propel the SME into export industry.
"This agreement creates a platform for Supashock to export its advanced suspension technology globally," said Fiorinotto.
"It also opens up a massive opportunity to expand its array of products into military vehicles where we know we can bring significant solutions across safety, mobility and to defence to the Australian Defence Force."
Supashock is already working with Rheinmetall to develop and manufacture of active suspension and integrated intelligent load handling system for Rheinmetall’s range of military trucks.
Fiorinotto said he hopes the partnership with Rheinmetall would underpin the company's future growth and create high technology, enduring jobs in the automotive sector that will deliver performance improvements to their customers and benefits to the Australian economy.
"Our focus is shifting from an extensive product development phase to the start of an accelerated growth phase and we welcome Rheinmetall as a partner that can enable access to international markets and provide funding to drive this growth," Fiorinotto said.
Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) provided funding to Supashock in May 2017 to develop an integrated active suspension system and intelligent load handling system for Australian and international markets that will substantially increase the capability and safety of RMMV’s military trucks in demanding on- and off-road environments.
The prime said that, through comparative testing, Supashock’s suspension technology was shown to substantially improve the mobility of RMMV trucks, while at the same time enhancing on-road safety and reducing the shock and vibration experienced by the load the truck is carrying.
Head of vehicle systems and executive board member of Rheinmetall Defence Ben Hudson explained that, from Rheinmetall's perspective, the acquisition came about as the company sees broad application of the integrated intelligent load handling system and Supashock’s suspension technology on both Australian and international programs, as it will deliver a real capability edge to customers.
"Rheinmetall saw significant future potential in the technology being developed by Supashock for the local and international market," explained Hudson.
"This partnership will deliver real benefits for the Australian economy through the accelerated generation of local jobs, while creating substantial export opportunities for Supashock.
"Just as the technology provides a step change in the performance of both our tactical and logistic vehicles, we see the close co-operation between the companies as a platform for an integrated approach towards the global expansion of Supashock into the military and commercial vehicle markets."
