Latest Defence and Industry News
Dutton vows to call out Beijing and declares everyday Australians are with the government
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- Written by Anthony Galloway
- Category: Minister
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has vowed to speak out more openly about China’s acts of aggression, declaring everyday Australians are with the government and understand the threats posed by Beijing. Mr Dutton warned Australia was “already under attack” in the cyber world and suggested the nation’s cyber spy agency would need to be beefed up in the coming years to fight against the escalating wave of hack attacks.
archTIS wins $296K contract with Department of Defence
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- Written by ITWire
- Category: Department of Defence
ASX-listed Canberra-based cyber security firm archTIS has won a contract valued at $296,000 with the Australian Department of Defence for the expanded deployment of its NC Protect platform. The contract is a software support engagement for archTIS for architecture and implementation services for the migration of NC Protect.
State Department OKs Potential $2B Boeing Patrol Aircraft Sale to India
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- Written by NICHOLS MARTIN
- Category: Boeing
The State Department has cleared India’s request to buy an additional six P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, built by Boeing (NYSE: BA), and related equipment under a potential $2.42 billion foreign military sales agreement with the U.S. government. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Friday the proposed deal will include the procurement of 12 LN-251 navigation systems, 42 AN/AAR-54 Missile Warning Sensors and eight units of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Joint Tactical Radio Systems 5.
Lockheed Martin Awarded $20 Million Contract for US Army Precision Strike Missile (PrSM)
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- Written by MilitaryLeak
- Category: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of long-lead item materials needed to support the development, testing and qualification of the Precision Strike Missile system. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of April 28, 2025.
‘Strategic own goal’: Defence reviews Port of Darwin’s Chinese ownership
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- Written by Anthony Galloway
- Category: National Security
The Morrison government has asked the Department of Defence to review the Northern Territory’s 99-year-lease of the Port of Darwin to the Chinese-owned company Landbridge – a deal that has unsettled national security figures in the federal government since it was signed six years ago. Defence officials are looking at whether the company, owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, should be forced to give up its ownership of the port on national security grounds under critical infrastructure laws passed in 2018.
Australia’s Security Intelligence Head Spooks To Front Extremism Hearing
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- Written by tntribune.com
- Category: Department of Defence
Insights from the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization will open two days of hearings on April 29 at a parliamentary inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism. Counter-terrorism legislation, policy settings, and response options are all under review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
India, Australia cleared to buy $4.3B in US military gear
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- Written by Aaron Mehta
- Category: Department of Defence
The Biden administration this week approved a trio of potential foreign military sales cases for Australia and India, items worth a potential $4.36 billion for American companies. On Thursday, Australia was cleared to purchase a package of Heavy Armored Combat Systems, with an estimated price tag of $1.685 billion, and four CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters, with an estimated price tag of $259 million.
US approves sale of four more Chinooks to Australia
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- Written by Gareth Jennings
- Category: Department of Defence
The US government has approved the sale of a further four Boeing CH-47F Chinook transport helicopters to Australia, the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 29 April. The US State Department approval covers four US Army helicopters “from US Army stock”, as well as spares, related equipment, and support, for an estimated USD259 million.
BAE Systems: Lancashire firm leads Eurofighter bid
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- Written by Joe Harrigan
- Category: BAE Systems
BAE Systems, which employs around 10,000 people at its sites in Samlesbury and Warton, is leading the bid on behalf of the four-nation Eurofighter consortium, made up of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. If the Eurofighter bid is successful the Samlesbury and Warton plants will play a major role in supporting the delivery of the offer submitted to replace Finland's HX fighter jets..
Raytheon gets $228 million contract extension for GPS ground system
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- Written by Sandra Erwin
- Category: Ratheon
Raytheon received a $228 million contract to continue development of a ground system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced April 30. The contract is for work on the operational control system for the newest version of GPS 3 satellites made by Lockheed Martin. The estimated $6 billion ground system known as OCX has been in development since 2012.
Department of Defence fork out over €1m on drones for use at home and abroad over past four years
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- Written by Ken Foxe
- Category: Unmanned Vehicle
THE UK Department of Defence have forked out more than €1.03 million on drones for use both at home and on overseas missions over the past four years.The Defence Forces use sophisticated Orbiter 2 drones, which are designed for day or night operation and for covert operations. Records show that €618,575 has been spent since the beginning of 2018 on maintenance of the Defence Forces’ armoury of spy drones.
Largest defence exporter Austal aims to sell Chinese arm
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- Written by Elouise Fowler and Richard Henderson
- Category: AUSTAL
Australia’s largest defence exporter, Austal, has begun talks to sell its 40 per cent stake in a Chinese shipbuilding joint venture set up five years ago amid deteriorating relations between the two countries.In 2016, the West Australia-based shipbuilder established Aulong Shipbuilding, a joint venture with Jianglong Shipbuilding, to build commercial passenger and non-military vessels for the Chinese market. Austal provided the designs for the ships.
Terrorist attack anticipated in next year
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- Written by AAP
- Category: National Security
Australia's top intelligence chief says a terrorist attack remains likely within the next year as federal police warn gaps in the law limit early intervention. ASIO boss Mike Burgess told an inquiry in Canberra on Thursday that Sunni-based violent extremism remained the biggest concern of security agencies, based on the current caseload, but nationalist, racist, misogynist violence is the fastest-growing threat.
Cyber Hub pilots to boost skills of smaller commonwealth agencies, Robert says
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- Written by Shannon Jenkins
- Category: Cyber Australia
Major commonwealth departments will offer cyber services to smaller government agencies through three Cyber Hub pilots, according to employment minister Stuart Robert. In an address to the Australian Financial Review Government Summit on Wednesday, Robert noted that some agencies “cannot compete for skills and resources in the marketplace”.
Creating reliable robotic weapons
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- Written by PATRICK LAWNHAM
- Category: DSTG
Reliability in autonomous and robotic weapons is a core investment of the government’s $1.2bn Next Generation Technologies Fund, administered by the Defence Department’s Defence Science and Technology Group. The $50m, Brisbane-based Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre (TAS DCRC) is Australia’s first and only such centre under the fund, and currently there are no plans for another DCRC, a department spokesperson says.
ACCC warns of new vehicle scam involving so-called ‘defence personnel’
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- Written by Anna Wall
- Category: Department of Defence
Aussies are being warned to be on the lookout for a new hoax where scammers target second-hand car sales websites pretending to be defence force personnel. The goal is to con people out of thousands by playing up the trustworthy authority-figure angle. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a statement on Tuesday revealing that Australians have already lost more than $288,000 to vehicle scams in the first quarter of this year, which is more than all losses reported to Scamwatch in 2019.
US, Australia strengthen alliance at Dover AFB
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- Written by Master Sgt. Chuck Broadway
- Category: USA
The U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program is a form of partnership the United States has with more than 180 countries and international organizations to transfer defense articles, services and training to international partners. One of the steps in the FMS program is the procurement of materials by a partner country. Due to its strategic geographic location, Dover Air Force Base regularly supports FMS operations through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron.
The hawks flock to the drums of war
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- Written by The Canberra Times
- Category: Department of Defence
The apparently likely appointment of Michael Pezzullo as the Defence Department secretary may not be in the national interest, given it could effectively hand both day-to-day and policy control of the organisation to the China hawks.A controversial figure who first worked in Defence as a graduate in 1987, Mr Pezzullo was the principal author of the 2009 defence white paper and has headed what is now the Home Affairs Department since 2014.
Major investment in Northern Territory Defence bases
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- Written by Defence Media
- Category: Minister
The Morrison Government will invest $747 million to upgrade four key training areas and ranges in the Northern Territory to enable the Australian Defence Force to conduct simulated training exercises and remain battle ready. Essential upgrades will be made to four key military training areas and weapon ranges in the Northern Territory, including: Robertson Barracks, Kangaroo Flats, Mount Bundey and Bradshaw.
Point Blank throws hat in ring to design US Army’s Bradley replacement
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- Written by Jen Judson
- Category: USA
Point Blank Enterprises is the most recent nontraditional business to come out of the woodwork as a competitor for the U.S. Army’s concept vehicle design phase to replace the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The company announced April 26 on its website that it had submitted a bid. The announcement comes almost two weeks after the Army’s deadline for solicitations.
US to spend $23 billion developing technology to intercept missiles
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- Written by Tony Capaccio
- Category: Northrop Grumman
The US Department of Defence plans to spend almost $US18 billion ($23 billion) to develop, produce and support its new interceptor to stop incoming nuclear missiles from North Korea or Iran, the first major defence procurement award of the Biden administration. Teams led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will receive between them as much as $US13.1 billion in the development phase of the Next Generation Interceptor, according to newly released figures.