Defence minister and deputy prime minister Richard Marles has given the strongest possible commitment that a future Australian nuclear submarine fleet will be built in Adelaide and not imported. In his first visit to a significant defence facility Marles yesterday toured the Osborne naval shipyard in Adelaide where he unequivocally committed to an Australian and…
The construction of nine Hunter class frigates at the Osborne naval dockyard has been criticised for being behind schedule and, even, not being the right ship for Australia’s needs. Here Craig Lockhart, managing director of shipbuilder BAE Systems Maritime Australia, refutes both claims, and details the progressing in delivering these multi-role, anti-submarine frigates. Defence minister…
More than three GW of battery storage projects with a combined value of $3.7 billion are in competition for government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). ARENA today announced that 12 projects had been invited to submit full applications to a Large Scale Battery Storage funding Round which will support grid scale batteries…
@AuManufacturing’s latest editorial series, Frontiers in Additive Manufacturing reveals a new capability developed at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility which will offer real-time information about the powder deposition process in metal additive manufacturing systems. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has boosted its additive manufacturing capabilities with the installation of a custom built Laser…
Simplot to upgrade Bathurst food manufacturing facility Simplot Australia has announced a $65 million upgrade to its Bathurst manufacturing facility and acquisiton of farming land in the Central West region of New South Wales valued at $40 million. Simplot Australia’s managing director Graham Dugdale said: “(We) will transform the Bathurst site into a frozen vegetable…
@AuManufacturing’s latest editorial series, Frontiers in Additive Manufacturing turns to the thriving startup world of metal additive manufacturers. Here, Peter Roberts looks back in time, and asks how can Australia make sure today’s crop of young companies grow and prosper, and remain in Australian hands. Cast your mind back to the 1990s and the rapid…
Perth unmanned aerial vehicle engine manufacturer Orbital UAV is heading for a loss of around $7 million for FY22 due to issues with its dominant customer, Boeing subsidiary Insitu. Orbital revealed in February that Insitu had terminated its third engine program under its long term supply agreement with Insitu. Production volumes for the two engine…
Coal to fertiliser business NeuRizer has successfully contracted the sale of half the initial urea production from its planned Leigh Creek production plant in the northern Flinders ranges area of South Australia. The company announced that it had signed a binding, five year offtake agreement with Daelim Co Ltd for the supply of 500,000 tonnes…
New federal government procurement rules announced on Friday have doubled the share of $70 billion in annual spending open to Australia’s SMEs. But as Shane West argues here, they also open up the possibility of other benefits to the economy and environment. The revised Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) now requiring that procuring officials consider a…
Composites manufacturer Quickstep and defence researchers will develop new high temperature resistant materials to be used in producing hypersonic aerostructures. The company has begun a jointly funded project with the Department of Defence, through the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) in collaboration with R&D group DMTC Ltd, to identify, analyse and test high materials…