South Australia defence industry does the heavy lifting

Joint media release: 

• Minister for Defence Industry, Member for Durack, the Hon Melissa Price MP

South Australia will continue to play a critical role in Defence’s air and land capability through the awarding of two local defence contracts. These are worth a combined total of close to $80 million.

The two contracts will secure maintenance services for the P-8A Poseidon fleet at RAAF Base Edinburgh, and purchase 36 South Australian-made specialist Automatic Load Handling Systems for use on Defence’s fleet of protected HX77 Medium Heavy vehicles.

Minister for Defence, the Hon Peter Dutton MP, welcomed the awarding of contracts to further solidify South Australia’s burgeoning defence industry in support of Australia’s national security.

“The P-8A Poseidon is one of the most advanced maritime patrol and response platforms in the world,” Minister Dutton said.

“This new contract with Boeing Australia to maintain the Poseidon fleet, is an important contribution to Defence’s mission. It brings heavy maintenance work to Australia that would otherwise have been performed in the United States.

“The purchase of the new Automatic Load Handling Systems, made by Supashock in partnership with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia, will enable Army vehicle operators to load and unload shipping containers and NATO standard flat racks, without leaving the safety of the vehicle’s protected cabin.”

“We are committed to ensuring ADF personnel have the tools they need to do their jobs in all environments.”

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the South Australian contracts would keep cutting-edge capability development and maintenance here in Australia.

“These new contracts will see an additional 21 jobs created at Supashock and 37 at Boeing Australia, as well as supporting more than 100 jobs throughout Australia’s broader defence industry supply chain,” Minister Price said.

“Our strong support for South Australia’s defence industry is clear and is vital to the State’s economy now and into the future.”

Collaboration between Defence and industry partners such as Boeing, Supashock and Rheinmetall provides a strong base for Australian industry to secure international export opportunities. This demonstrates the strength of Australia’s sovereign capability on a global scale.

The P-8A maintenance contract is valued at $60 million and the specialist load handling systems will be acquired for $19.7 million.