Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare were present to see the 800th Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle roll off Thales Australia’s production line at Bendigo.

The complexity of modern defence projects has defied traditional approaches to capability development and acquisition. Defence, the DMO and the defence industry are refining a new approach to the management of complex projects.

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a US$758 million US Navy contract to provide submarine combat and sonar systems designed around commercially available hardware and software.

Defence has recently completed a round of industry briefings on the draft US-Australia Defence Trade Control Bill 2011. However, it’s not clear the bill works exclusively to Australian industry’s advantage.

Adelaide-based Codan Limited has won a sole-source contract to supply high frequency (HF) radio systems to the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) J6 Directorate.

Australia and the United Kingdom will share defence research facilities to enhance cooperation in science and technology and reduce operating costs under a deal announced by the Minister for Defence Science & Personnel, Warren Snowdon.

Defence has signed a $25 million contract with Thales Australia to deliver nine additional vehicle training simulators for the ASLAV.

Thales Australia and DSTO are refining the fibre laser sensor technology behind fibre optic sonar. This technical leap is expected to make towed sonar arrays lighter and slimmer and much more versatile, with significantly wider applications.

David Allott has been appointed managing director of BAE Systems Australia, succeeding Jim McDowell who has been appointed MD and CEO of BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia.

Defence, through Diggerworks and DSTO, and Industry, led by the DMTC, will invest $20 million over the next five years on research designed to enhance the protection of servicemen and women in harm’s way.

The revelation that Navy’s amphibious fleet was effectively beached at the start of this year has had a cascading effect on Defence’s maritime sustainment activities. The resulting Rizzo report has changed the business environment markedly.

BAE Systems has shipped the first of its 180 tonne Air Warfare Destroyer blocks from the Williamstown yard in Victoria to the ASC facility at Osborne in South Australia.

Force Protection Australasia Pty Ltd announced it has submitted a bid to the Defence Materiel Organisation for the manufacture of Special Operations Vehicles - Commando.

At this year’s Paris Air Show, Thales presented for the first time its high-performance TopOwl Helmet Mounted Sight Display (HMSD) featuring augmented reality, a new capability further enhancing helicopter pilots situational awareness in difficult visibility conditions.

DSTO is helping advance an innovative power generation and harvesting system, as part of the Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) Program.

Under Project Air 5440 the RAAF has bought into the joint user group approach to sustaining and expanding the C-130J Hercules operational capability with the OEM, Lockheed Martin, leading development.