Austal Australia to collaborate with Australian Missile Corporation to bid for $1 Billion Guided Missile Enterprise

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 

6TH AUGUST 2021

Austal Australia to collaborate with Australian Missile Corporation to bid for A$1Billion Guided Missile Enterprise

Austal Limited (Austal) (ASX: ASB) is pleased to announce that Austal Australia has joined a consortium of Australian defence industry partners, academia and government organisations to support a new collaboration platform, the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC), which has the aim of establishing a sovereign guided missile manufacturing enterprise in Australia.

In March 2021, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Australian Government’s intention to create a new enterprise to support missile and guided weapons manufacturing in Australia, for use across the Australian Defence Force. In July 2021, a Request For Information (RFI) was issued by the Australian Government calling for expressions of interest to support a A$1 billion Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEOE).

AMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NIOA, the largest Australian-owned supplier of weapons and munitions to the Australian Defence Force. Austal Australia joins a number of companies collaborating with the AMC; including Quickstep, Moog Australia, Black Sky Aerospace and Thomas Global Systems.

Austal Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the collaboration with AMC was yet another example of how Austal is working with defence industry partners to build sovereign capability in Australia.

“Austal has a proven track record of effective collaboration with not only Australian industry, but academia and government, to deliver effective defence capability, such as the current Guardian and Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boat Programs; and we’re proud to support the Australian Missile Corporation’s bid to establish a sovereign missile manufacturing enterprise here in Australia,” Mr Gregg said.

NIOA and AMC Chief Executive Officer, Robert Nioa, welcomed the support of Austal and highlighted the Company’s success in helping to develop Australia’s sovereign defence capability.

“The expertise of a great Australian business such as Austal, with its world-leading insights, skills and enthusiasm, will be critical to the AMC in this formative stage,” Mr Nioa said.

“As a trusted part of the defence industry for more than 30 years, they share our goal of strengthening the nation’s sovereign capability while supporting the ADF.’’

The Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEOE) aims to enhance Australia’s self-reliance and supply chain resilience, with a longer-term aim of developing a sovereign-guided weapons manufacturing capability, comprising the following elements;
• Manufacturing;
• research and development;
• education and training;
• test and evaluation;
• maintenance and repair;
• storage and distribution; and
• disposal.

About the Australian Missile Corporation:

The Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) is a subsidiary of NIOA, formed to facilitate collaboration between industry partners, academia, State Governments and Defence in response to the Australian Government’s call to establish a sovereign guided weapons enterprise. The AMC will deliver sovereign manufacturing capability and enabling services to whatever guided weapon family is chosen by the Australian Government for domestic manufacture. It will be available for all guided weapons OEMs as a pre-positioned and ready Australian capability, growing its capability and expertise through a focused program of support and workshare.

Website: https://www.amc.com.au/

About NIOA:

NIOA was founded in regional Queensland in 1973 and is the largest Australian-owned weapons and munitions Prime Contractor. Committed to the development of Australian sovereign capability, NIOA is investing $130m in domestic munitions and explosives manufacturing over the next five years, including a $60m artillery shell forging plant in Maryborough Queensland with joint-venture partner Rheinmetall Waffe Munitions, an upgrade of the Commonwealth’s Government-owned Benalla munitions plant in Victoria and an $11m expansion of its Brisbane warehouse and distribution facility.

Website: https://www.nioa.com.au/

This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Paddy Gregg, Austal Limited’s Chief Executive Officer.

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Media Contact:

Cameron Morse
+61 433 886 871
cameron.morse@fticonsulting.com