The top defense officials of the United States, Australia and Japan expressed their opposition to “concerning and destabilizing” activities in East Asia during the 13th Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii on Thursday. Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd...
Category: Australia
US Marines Expect Two More Recon Watercraft From Australian Maker
The U.S. Marine Corps will receive two more vessels from The Whiskey Project Group this summer after the Australian company delivered the first two boats in early 2024. Pat O’Mara, assessment manager of the USMC’s Multi-Mission Reconnaissance Craft program, said at a defense conference in Washington on Thursday that the additional units would enable the...
Christine Zeitz Announces Departure From Northrop Grumman Australia
Christine Zeitz is stepping down from her position as chief executive and general manager of Northrop Grumman Australia by the end of September. The defense contractor confirmed her upcoming retirement in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. “In the four years since Christine joined NGA, she has driven our development as a business, established a robust strategy...
US State Department Seeks Public Comment on Arms Sales Rule Exemptions to Australia, UK
The United States is seeking public input on its plan to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to grant a rule exemption to Australia and the United Kingdom, U.S. partners in the AUKUS trilateral security agreement. According to a Federal Register notice posted on Wednesday, the planned ITAR amendment will exempt from State Department...
Australian Government Invests in PsiQuantum Innovation Efforts; Jeremy O’Brien Quoted
The Australian and Queensland governments will provide $614 million in funding to support PsiQuantum’s development of the world’s first commercial-use quantum computer in Australia. In a press release announcing the investment on Monday, Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum disclosed that it will build the quantum computer near Brisbane Airport in Queensland. The company expects the site...
Boeing, Australian Researchers Conduct ISS Tests on 3D Mapping
The International Space Station National Laboratory is sponsoring a joint project between aerospace company Boeing and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Australian government’s scientific research agency, to test a new 3D method for mapping remote environments. The lab said the collaboration, called the Multi-Resolution Scanner project, will use one of the free-flying...
KBR Wins $85M Australian Navy Contract on Ship Life Cycle Management
Science, engineering and technology company KBR has been awarded an $85 million contract as capability life cycle manager for the Royal Australian Navy’s amphibious and replenishment vessels at Garden Island, off Western Australia’s southwest coast, the Australian Department of Defence announced Friday. KBR’s tasks include maintaining the RAN’s Canberra-class landing helicopter docks, supply-class auxiliary oilers, and the...
Lockheed Martin Australia Secures $327M Missile Defense Contract; Erika Marshall Quoted
Lockheed Martin Australia has won a $327 million contract from the Australian Department of Defence to develop its Joint Air Battle Management System. According to the company, the task calls for delivering an integrated air and missile defense capability, deploying next-gen technologies to repulse high-speed threats and enhance interoperability with allies. Erika Marshall, Lockheed Martin...
Autonomous Australian Navy Patrol Boat Concept Advances With Austal’s Sentinel Test Completion
Australia-based global shipbuilder Austal has announced the completion of seaworthiness tests of a remotely and autonomously operated vessel in collaboration with the Royal Australian Navy’s Warfare Innovation Navy branch. Other partners in the project, funded by the Australian government, include Greenroom Robotics and Trusted Autonomous Systems. The project, dubbed the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial, utilized...
Rocket Lab’s Electron Deploys NASA, South Korean Payloads to Different Orbits
Rocket Lab has deployed NASA and South Korean payloads to two separate orbits. On Wednesday morning, the Electron rocket blasted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, carrying a nanosatellite developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. NeonSat-1, an Earth observation nanosatellite, was deployed to a 520-kilometer circular...