The defence department has selected a home-grown solution for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to be fitted to upcoming tactical unmanned aerial systems (UAS) purchases. Insitu Pacific Limited and Textron Systems Australia have been selected as the final two companies in the tender evaluation process for UAS systems to be bought under LAND…
GFG Alliance’s Sanjeev Gupta has refinanced debt for the Whyalla steelworks ending speculation the collapse of a financier to the company threatened the closure of the works. The company has secured a $430 million refinancing of the steelworks and his Tahmoor Coal operations to replace funds provided by the collapsed group Greensill Capital. GFG Alliance…
A $4.5 billion project to turn natural gas into urea on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula has taken a step closer to reality with the signing of an off-take agreement with fertiliser producer, Incitec Pivot Fertilizers. Incitec Pivot has entered into a 20 year agreement to take up to 2.3 million tonnes a year of granular…
Australia’s largest personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturer, Softmed, has begun producing one million sterilisation wraps per month which are used to wrap and seal surgical trays and instruments prior to surgical procedures. The company, which in August invested $30 million in a new Victorian factory, began local production in response to a critical worldwide shortage…
French owned defence contractor Thales has conducted a safe test firing of a sovereign rocket motor (pictured), adding to the momentum building behind the manufacture of guided weapons in Australia. The testing of a locally designed and manufactured Jones rocket motor evaluated local rocket motor nozzle design and materials. The Mulwala manufactured Jones rocket motor…
Federal goovernment pressure on the energy industry to construct new gas-fired power plants or face government-funded competition has resulted in EnergyAustralia announcing a new gas-fired peaking power station. The company said it would build a 300+ megawatt Tallawarra B power station in New South Wales and open it in time for summer following the retirement…
Leigh Creek Energy Limited has kick-started the construction of a urea fertilizer plant based on the Leigh Creek coal deposits in South Australia. The company told investors it had entered into a binding heads of agreement with South Korean engineering and construction firm DL E&C Co. Ltd for a feasibility study, engineering design and procurement…
Electric truck drive train manufacturer SEA Electric is to display five of its truck models assembled in Australia from kits for the first time at the upcoming Brisbane Truck Show. The company’s first range as an OEM supplier includes the its’ latest – the SEA 300-45 EV and SEA 300-85 EV. All are powered by…
Space industry startup Quasar Satellite Technologies has raised $12 million to commercialise a breakthrough technology that allows ground stations to communicate with hundreds of satellites at once. With ground stations typically talking to a single satellite, Quasar’s technology based on CSIRO’s phased array research will communicate with the thousands of nanosatellites now entering low earth…
By Peter Roberts Defence, space and communications manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has reported March quarter results which confirm its progress towards becoming a genuine Australian sovereign defence prime contractor. In Australia our companies are considered at best suppliers to overseas defence primes, but the Canberra company’s 2020 results confirmed in the latest quarter suggest it…