Page 22 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2018

LAND FORCES
2018
J3SEVEN expands under MoU
JULIAN KERR | ADELAIDE
J3SEVEN is an SME that deals in chemi- cal, biological and radiological (CBR) war- fare – specifically, in ways of protecting against and mitigating its effects.
“In the past CBR security has been pushed into the ‘too hard’ basket,” J3SEV- EN director Gareth Molnar, a former Spe- cial Forces member, explained to ADM.
“But with reports of chemical and bio- logical agent incidents around the globe be- coming more common, CBR defence will increasingly present some of our most imper- ative modern security challenges,” he said.
The Cairns-based company sources CBR exploitation and screening prod- ucts, and educates primes and first re- sponders that it is possible to work in a highly lethal environment.
Since its establishment in 2012, it has also
The CBR space is changing under a number of programs
expanded to offer CBR training, and in- country support for the products it provides at a facility near Holsworthy Barracks in south- western Sydney – “close to the customer”.
J3SEVEN has worked directly with the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in advising on and supplying solu- tions to security challenges.
With Defence, J3SEVEN works through primes, a process which will be facilitated by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the company signed with Lei- dos at Land Forces 2018, where Leidos announced the long awaited contract sig- nature for the ADF’s CBR program under JP2110 after two years of negotiations.
The MoU will provide increased collabo- ration and delivery opportunities for both companies by jointly identifying and devel- oping new technologies and solutions for the ADF and related industries.
As part of the MoU, Leidos Australia will work to integrate J3Seven into its global supply chain, provide support on future projects and enable manufacturing oppor- tunities in Australia.
Penguin Composites for the SME win
Thales and Penguin Composites are working together on the Hawkei.
KATHERINE ZIESING | ADELAIDE
TASMANIAN SME Penguin Composites entered the Defence community recently thanks to their work on the Thales Hawkei program, an agreement signed at the 2016 Land Forces conference.
The Thales contract sees the 50-per- son strong SME constructing bonnets, side steps, and inner/outer guards on the Hawkei, with CEO and owner John van der Woude prosaic regarding the ups and downs of SME life.
“We’ve done a lot of
work over the years in oil
and gas and mining with
the likes of Caterpillar
and Elphinstone, with
our people count moving
between 20 to 50 people
depending on the work
coming through,” he said to ADM. “De- fence was a logical move for us.”
While the Thales contract is the first De- fence related work the SME has undertak- en, they have gone full speed ahead with the proves, engaging with the CDIC, attaining
a range of ISO compliant standards and practices while surveying the landscape of Defence opportunities.
“I think Defence is going to be an impor- tant part of the business going forward,” van der Woude confirmed.
22 | October 2018 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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