Take a look at some of the great work our homegrown defence technology companies are already doing
Local defence technology companies are set to boom on the back of the AUKUS deal. But even though SA-built subs are decades away, these firms are already achieving amazing things.
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Seven of the world’s top 10 defence companies already have a presence here in South Australia.
Their footprint is only likely to continue growing as the AUKUS pipeline opens up, presenting employment opportunities for South Australians and to attract the best and brightest here.
Arguably more exciting for South Australia are the homegrown defence technology companies that have already forged a reputation but are poised to boom on the AUKUS deal.
We’ve taken a look at five homegrown defence technology companies to profile some of the incredible work they’re already doing.
Marathon effort to light the way for military
REDARC DEFENCE AND SPACE
ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURER
BASED: LONSDALE
STAFF: 380
If there’s one place where lighting is important it’s inside a nuclear submarine. Weeks, and even months, underwater with no natural light means that the illumination of these incredible vessels is something that’s very carefully considered.
Adelaide company REDARC Defence and Space said it’s ready and able to make lights for the subs and it already has runs on the board.
“We’re contracted with BAE and the Commonwealth to supply the LED lights for the Hunter Class ships and we’d love to do the same for SSN submarines,” REDARC managing director Anthony Kittel said.
The company has also teamed up with local universities to work through the unique problems posed by submarine lighting.
“We’ve been carrying out research around how we can help the submariners with their sleep patterns and circadian rhythms, so there is some real innovation that we can bring to bear in the future,” Mr Kittel said.
“You can’t bring the outside in, but if you can make it feel like that then that’s a great outcome.”
Mr Kittel said supplying defence contracts was “a marathon, not a sprint”, but he believed to company was well placed to stay busy until the submarine building started.
“We set up REDARC Defence and Space in 2016 and we have a strategic plan out to 2032, so we’re playing the long game,” he said.
“The key thing is to diversify and not depend on one contract. With our commercial business, our space business and our defence business we’re hoping to make sure that there’s no valley of death.”
Immersed in reality of learning
LUMINATION
IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
BASED: THEBARTON
STAFF: 60+
The skilled workers who will be building the SSN-AUKUS submarines will likely know the vessels inside out long before their proposed construction date thanks to the teaching revolution that is virtual reality.
And the company best placed to deliver this groundbreaking training could well be Adelaide’s own Lumination. The Thebarton-based company was founded less than seven years ago, but already has a presence in 25 schools around the country, including hi-tech Lumination Labs in the newly built government schools in Whyalla, Riverbanks, Aldinga and Goolwa. Lumination CCO Tom Hastwell, pictured, said that experience with students is now transferring to industry.
“We won our first defence contract last year where we built a virtual learning environment for soldiers,” Mr Hastwell said.
“We’ve also partnered with BAE to run a STEM-based program in schools in Years Four to Six … and that project is growing. So we’re working with BAE to develop the pipeline at a very early age.
“We now have the ability, through VR, to teach not only how to drive and crew these submarines, but to build them.”
Plan now for that jobs boom
AXIOM PRECISION MANUFACTURING
PRECISION CNC MANUFACTURING
BASED: WINGFIELD
STAFF: 65
The long-term opportunities coming out of the AUKUS agreement will be many and fruitful, Axiom Precision general manager Craig Maynard, said.
The challenge for local companies will be identifying and capitalising on the short and medium-term opportunities and using those to pave the way for the boom time that’s coming.
He said the more immediate benefits for Axiom, which makes everything from parts for the F-35 aircraft to weapons components, might not come from subs but from related military opportunities such as missiles.
And once the contracts start to land, he said, it will be very good news for young South Australians looking for work.
“We have an apprentice training program in-house where we employ nine apprentices at the moment,” he said. “We’re aiming to get that up to 20 … on the back of defence projects.’’
Going like a rocket
SUPASHOCK
DEFENCE MOBILITY AND MOTIONS SYSTEMS COMPANY
BASED: HOLDEN HILL
STAFF: 130
As the only designer and manufacturer of rocket launchers in Australia, Supashock knows defence.
The Holden Hill outfit also makes the running gear for the Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle, a world-leading container handling system which has been sold to the Australian Army.
With a staff of 130 people – a number that is forecast to grow significantly – it’s far from one of the “big guys”, but founder and CEO Oscar Fiorinotto, pictured, said that mid-sized SA companies will play a vital role in fulfilling defence contracts, including those emerging from AUKUS.
“It’s the mid-sized companies that are going to feed us and grow … so we’re ready for a proper sovereign manufacturing, designer development capability that we need,’’ he said.
“AUKUS is fantastic for South Australia, and I think it’s fantastic for the nation.”
Powering the future
PMB DEFENCE
BATTERY MANUFACTURER
BASED: OSBOURNE
STAFF: JUST UNDER 200
Any submarine news is good news for PMB Defence, the Osborne-based company that specialises in sub batteries.
“We’re around 70 per cent export,” PMB CEO Stephen Faulkner said. “We supply backup batteries for the UK nuclear fleet from here, so certainly from that perspective we have an ‘in’ to the longer-term program by already being in that supply chain.”
Mr Faulkner said overall the AUKUS agreement was a big win for the company which just cut the ribbon on a gleaming new facility.
Mr Faulkner said that an expansion into America was definitely on the cards. “We’re already in two of the AUKUS countries and we think we know more about submarine battery systems than probably anyone in the world.”
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