The Federal Government has expanded its Global Supply Chain (GSC) Program, in a bid to ‘turbo charge’ export opportunities for the Australian defence industry.
Underscoring support for local companies and jobs, the GSC Program will see the number of participating major defence companies – known as ‘primes’ – increase from seven to 13.
The Program expansion relates to a commitment made in the landmark Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS), which was released in February of this year and outlines the need to expand the number of participants to assist with scale, competitiveness and sustainability.
“The Program is aimed at supporting Australian businesses to integrate into global supply chains, diversify their revenue, drive economies of scale and build resilience through exports. Since its inception, the Program has delivered 2,450 contracts worth over $1.9 billion to 258 Australian suppliers,” said a statement from Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.
“The DIDS also outlined the defence industrial base we need in Australia, and how we will grow it, and articulated for the first time the strategic rationale for a sovereign defence industrial base and its paramount importance to Australia’s national security.”
The 13 major defence companies now include Babcock, BAE Systems, Boeing, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Kongsberg, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rheinmetall, SAAB and Thales.
“Expanding the program will provide Australian businesses with greater access to the broader export markets, and will increase opportunities to integrate into the international supply chains of the GSC Program partners,” said Mr Conroy.
The GSC Program, which began in 2007, has also updated its performance framework to include:
- A plan to promote the scaling and growth of Australian businesses
- An expanded scope of exports to consider the continuum between domestic and international projects
- Identification of opportunities for Australian innovation early in the development cycle
- Performance metrics to allow Defence to measure the success of primes and the program
