Page 7 - AVALON 2023 - Day 3 | DAILY NEWS

© Thales Australia CIRRUS
THALES

EXTENDS
COMPLETES NAVY

LITHGOW SIMULATION

TRAINING
BUILDING
CONTRACT

Thales Australia has announced that a is Australia’s prime sovereign small arms Cirrus has secured an additional engi-
new manufacturing building at the Lithgow manufacturing site and it is where the EF88 neering services contract to support
Arms site in New South Wales has com- rifle is manufactured, for example. the Generic COMCEN System (GCS)
pleted construction. The facility, designed simulation training system used by
and built by FDC Construction, is now being Thales Australia had already invested the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The
kitted out with manufacturing equipment. AUD70 million over the past decade to GCS has been utilised by the Defence
develop the Lithgow factory. Force School of Signals Maritime
The New South Wales government contrib- Communications and Information
uted AUD1.2 million (USD830,000) for the Julie Bown, Thales Australia’s Vice President Systems Wing at HMAS Cerberus since
manufacturing facility via a grant from the Land, said: ‘Thales Australia is proud of our 2018.
NSW Regional Job Creation Fund. Thales stewardship of this critical industrial capa-
Australia provided funding of an equal bility that has supported the ADF and allies Basically, the GCS is a synthetic
amount. for more than a century. In an uncertain training environment that allows com-
world, it is vital that Australia maintains munications and information systems
The OEM expects that 56 jobs will be cre- its sovereign manufacturing capability personnel to operate their equipment
ated there, as production capacity for both to prepare for all contingencies, and our within a naval communications centre.
military and civil small arms increases for investment at Lithgow reflects our com-
domestic and export markets over the mitment to continue providing advanced The GCS permits instructors to
coming three years. The Lithgow facility capability that’s made in Australia.’ reconfigure the system to represent
communication centres of different ship
classes within the RAN.
BIRDON BEGINS The GCS also incorporates an inte-

grated learning management system
CONSTRUCTION OF to manage training data and simplify
administrative functions. The benefit of
LANDING CRAFT this is that instructors can then focus on
knowledge transfer.

Peter Freed, Cirrus’ Managing Director,
said: ‘Cirrus is pleased to continue
our close working relationship…,with
© Birdon
the new arrangement providing for an
expanded level of software develop-
The shipbuilder Birdon has commenced under construction is Birdon’s offering. ment services supporting the ongoing
the construction of a prototype landing evolution of this system.’
craft, which represent s a new class aimed Jamie Bruce, Birdon’s CEO, commented:
at an Australian Army requirement. Once ‘As a privately owned Australian company Simultaneously, Cirrus received a
finished, it will represent a full-scale oper- with international operations, champion- contract for expanded support of the
ational proof-of-concept vessel. ing the crucial role of small and medium Tactical Electronic Warfare system,
enterprises in Australian manufacturing this being an electronic warfare train-
Being built in Echo Marine Group’s and supply chains is core to our offering. ing system used at HMAS Watson since
Henderson, Western Australia shipyard, it This self-funded initiative is supporting new 2019.
was jointly designed by Birdon and naval jobs in Western Australia right throughout
architect firm Incat Crowther. the supply chain. Made with Australian
steel and at Birdon’s own cost and risk, environments. The review and refinement
The Australian Army is seeking replace- this investment demonstrates the high of our solution will utilise a real vessel,
ments for its landing craft under the Littoral confidence we have in our solution and with the benefit of a streamlined build
Manoeuvre Vessel - Medium (LMV-M) pro- our commitment to provide the Australian programme and a reduction in technical
gramme that goes under the tag Project Army with a proven vessel capable of oper- risk across the design, build and support
Land 8710 Phase 1A. This landing craft ating in littoral, riverine and open-ocean phases.’
AVALON 2023 MARCH-02-2023 | 7