A Sydney SME has won a massive share of the global market for weapon mounts.

Navy’s new CEAAR / CEAMOUNT anti-ship missile defence radar system has been released for initial operational use after achieving outstanding results during trials of the system off the coasts of Australia and Hawaii.

A follow-on order for ASLAV Crew Procedural Trainers from Thales and Sydney SME Thomas Electronics will roughly double the Army’s ASLAV crew training capacity, reflecting the Army’s operational tempo and the value of the CPTs.

Metal Storm is a teaming partner with seven companies that have received Pentagon contracts to provide Force Protection Systems for Integrated Base Defence capabilities for security of sites and personnel.

Haulmark Trailers in Rocklea, QLD has won a $31 million contract to provide 830 trailers to the Australian Army. Defence has also approved the purchase of 950 G-Wagon 4WD Drive vehicles under Phase 5 of Project Land 121 - Overlander.

The first keel block that will be used to construct the RAN’s first Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD), HMAS Hobart, has been delivered to ASC at Osborne, South Australia.

A revitalised Project Land 400 has seen separate requirements for cavalry and infantry capabilities combined into a single Phase 2 Land Combat Vehicle System as the main element of the Army’s Combined Arms Fighting System.

The Priority Industry Capabilities named in 2009 prompted many to ask how Defence would try to sustain and enhance them. The answer is through a PIC Innovation Program which gets under way this month.

Defence materiel minister Jason Clare delivered the keynote address at last month’s ADM Defence Skilling Summit. As well as talking about skills he also, importantly, highlighted critical structural issues in the defence market.

Defence has released the RFT for the sale of the Navy’s remaining Sea King Helicopters.

The Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, and Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare announced last month the Government has approved four major Defence capability projects. They are:

As ADM closed for press Defence announced the MRH90 helicopter program would undergo a second diagnostic review, to begin last month.

Defence forces have long been accused of preparing to fight the last war, not anticipate the next. The Australian Army’s Adaptive Warfare Branch and Centre for Army Lessons exist to ensure Army learns from the past but doesn’t live there.

The status of the Army’s reserves has undergone a profound change over the past 20 years. No longer just WOFTAMs, Reservists are now an integral part of the Army’s force generation cycle.

The Diggers who deployed to Somalia in the early-1990s were easily recognisable to their Vietnam-era forebears. But recent improvements in communications, night fighting and armour technology have altered soldier equipment beyond recognition.

The ADF will borrow two Canadian systems for additional protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for Australian soldiers operating in Afghanistan.