The Australian Missile Corporation has inked an agreement with the Victorian Government to prioritise local jobs, skills, and training in a push to speed the development of Australia’s emerging smart munitions industry.
The Memorandum of Understanding aims to provide a “ready and able” Victorian workforce to Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) sector, AMC revealed in a news release.
The AMC is the Commonwealth’s first Australian-owned GWEO Enterprise Partner, working with Defence and strategic industry partners Lockheed Martin Australia and Raytheon Australia to mobilise local industry to assist domestic manufacturing.
According to the enterprise, the Commonwealth Government recently doubled down on its investment in the GWEO enterprise after the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) prioritised GWEO capability among its “accelerated preparedness” objectives.
With the $2.5 billion GWEO investment – an increase from the planned $1 billion – a domestic GWEO production capability will be quickly established, particularly for long-range guided weapons.
The arrangement with the Victorian Government, according to AMC CEO Lee Goddard, demonstrates the company’s commitment to working with government and industry to establish a sustainable sovereign-guided weapons industrial base.
“The whole AMC team is delighted to enter into this MoU,” he said, adding that “a key recommendation of the DSR is the need to fast-track the development of munitions and missile manufacturing in Australia.”
Goddard also emphasised that the GWEO enterprise represents a next-generation defence market with an estimated value of $100 billion.
“This agreement with the Victorian Government represents an important step in realising this important strategic initiative for Australia while growing regional jobs and skills,” he added.
Founded in 2021, the AMC is an independently operated company within the NIOA Group and was formed to support the acceleration of the development of GWEO manufacturing capability in Australia.
