Land Forces 2022 – introducing our new editorial series

Today @AuManufacturing launches its special editorial series Land Forces 2022 with an important interview with Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy. Here, Peter Roberts studies the lay of the Australian land.

As delegates gather in Brisbane this week for Land Forces 2022, the priority issue for defense and the defense industry is the conflict in Ukraine and its lessons for the future of the Australian Defense Force.

With a seemingly well-armed military and massive firepower at its disposal, Russia was unable to advance against a much smaller force from one of Europe’s poorest nations due to shortcomings in equipment, training, leadership, logistics, tactics and morale.

In an interview with @AuManufacturing, published here today, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy signaled that one outcome will be a dramatic change in the pace of defense procurement, which will build on the strategic defense review currently underway.

Conroy told @AuManufacturing: “The conflict in Ukraine has taught us that, one, local supply chains are very fragile.

“Secondly, if you look at Ukraine and you look at the use, they went through missiles, artillery, ammunition and small arms ammunition (at a rapid pace) and you look at the fact that we no longer have a ten-year warning period.

“We can’t just have the base stock. We need to think about how to generate wartime stock levels. Part of this may be to increase inventory and another part may be to develop sovereign manufacturing capability. »

To this end, Conroy defined his job not just as minister of industry, but primarily as minister of defense materiel.

“People assume your job is to maximize local industry content, and that’s important, but it’s not my top priority.

“It’s to make sure that the defense materiel the ADF needs gets to the service on time, on budget and with the capabilities it was contracted for. Everything else has to flow from that.

Land Forces, taking place October 4-6 at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Center in Brisbane, comes as Defense is spending $290 billion on equipment, technology and support over the next decade.

Here, 2022 is a big year for army procurement, with the decision expected to acquire Rheinmetall’s Lynx or Hanwha’s Redback infantry fighting vehicle as part of Land 400 Phase 3, a program worth $18-27 billion.

Already on Saturday looking ahead to the Land Forces, Canberra signed a Lethality System Project Tranche 1 (LAND 159) contract with Queensland firm NIOA to begin acquiring and supplying the next generation of small arms.

The contract is part of a more than $500 million commitment to supply Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen with enhanced lethality weapons systems.

And this week it is widely believed that the government will announce the recipients of Land 125 Phase 4 Land 125 Phase 4, providing an integrated soldier system to Australian Defense Force troops.

Key to the announcement will be the Australian Industry Capability (AIC) requirements which compel suppliers to seek Australian solutions, boost local industry and lay the foundation for domestic business growth.

Over the next two weeks, @AuManufacturing will publish opinion pieces from industry experts and celebrate excellence in the Australian defense industry, written from our unique perspective at the intersection of defense and our manufacturing community – through our sister organization the Australian Manufacturing Forum Linkedin group.

The @AuManufacturing Land Forces 2022 editorial series would like to acknowledge the support of Thales Australia and BAE Systems Australia who made possible this year’s coverage – which will run for the next two weeks.

Thales Australia is a trusted defense contractor that manufactures munitions, weapons, optronics, protected vehicles, mission packages and command, control, communications and computer (C4) systems.

It also provides sectors ranging from air traffic management and ground transportation systems to security systems and services.

The company develops and manufactures its own technologies in Australia, including the popular Bushmaster and Hawkeye protected mobility vehicles, directly employing 3,800 people at 35 sites and supporting more than 1,841 Australian suppliers, mostly SMEs.

BAE Systems Australia is Australia’s largest defense contractor, with a long history of developing and manufacturing unique technologies and products in Australia.

It operates in defence, from air and maritime support to shipbuilding, producing a wide range of vehicles and optical and laser systems supported by technologies unique to Australia such as titanium machining and software systems for the missile control and the autonomy of the unmanned system.

More reading:
LAND FORCES 2022 – DEFENSE INDUSTRY POLICY UNDER PAT CONROY, INTERVIEW
NIOA WINS CONTRACT FOR NEXT GENERATION ARMY WEAPONS

The special editorial series from @AuManufacturing Land Forces 2022 is brought to you with the support of Thales Australia and BAE Systems Australia.