Thales Australia enters munitions alliance with General Dynamics OTS

Thales Australia said on 21 May that it has entered a new partnership agreement with US-based General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) focused on munitions for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Thales Australia said the arrangement would support technology transfers to Australia “for the design, development, manufacture, and sustainment of a variety of critical munitions products”. A spokesperson from Thales Australia told Janes that the alliance would include aerial ordnance for Royal Australian Air Force and large calibre ammunition.

The arrangement is thought to replace a 10-year accord that the two companies signed in 2011. Through this deal, Thales Australia has produced General Dynamics products including BLU-126 and BLU-111 aerial ordnance and 155 mm M795 HE projectiles.

In 2018 the two firms further expanded their partnership to enable Thales Australia to become part of the US firm’s international supply chain.

Thales Australia also aims to position its new agreement with GD-OTS to support an arrangement it entered into with the Australian Department of Defence in June 2020. This ‘Strategic Domestic Munitions Manufacturing’ (SDMM) accord supports Thales Australia’s production of a range of munitions for the ADF over the coming 10 years.

This agreement facilitates production at Thales Australia’s government-owned munitions manufacturing sites at Benalla, Victoria, and Mulwala, New South Wales. Thales Australia has said that the SDMM deal will enable it to bid for “export and non-ADF orders” worth more than AUD450 million (USD348 million) over the coming decade.