Page 61 - Australian Defence Magazine April-May 2021

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EW 9102 61
AIC AND TEAM MAIER
As with all major Defence acquisition proj- ects, Australian Industry Capability (AIC) will form an important part of the Com- monwealth’s requirements and, to this end, Airbus has formed Team Maier to partner with local space and defence com- panies and academia.
Named after the term given to the con- nection between land, sea and the cos- mos by the Meriam people of the Eastern Islands of the Torres Strait – and used with their permission – Team Maier was launched in October 2020 and is current- ly looking to engage partners through its ICN Gateway.
“Our connection with the Indigenous community is important to us and we’ve partnered with Tagai Management to ensure that Indigenous companies are well represented as part of the spectrum of companies that we will have on Team Maier,” Mathewson said. Tagai Manage- ment are also partnered with Airbus on the latter’s bid for Defence’s Land 2097 Phase 4 (Special Forces Support Heli- copter) program.
Rowse adds that one of the reasons Airbus has established Team Maier is in recognition of Australia’s journey to a sov- ereign space capability.
“It’s not just about JP9102 as a busi- ness opportunity, it’s about what Airbus can do to help develop Australia as a sovereign state nation and that’s really the key, it reminds us that we need to be respectful of Australia’s unique needs,” he said.
Although Airbus has not engaged further partners to date, it says it is going through the process to supply prospective business with information, a process which began in January and one which will continue throughout the year, but it hopes to sign the first agreements between now and the release of the RFT.
“I see JP9102 as a catalyst for the Aus- tralian space industry for two main rea- sons: the first is to provide the capability they require over the next decades, the ability to be flexible, agile and able to make the sovereign decisions it needs to make,” Rowse concluded.
“The second reason is that JP9102 can be used to really catalyse Australian industry and also deliver a sovereign space capabil- ity. Our aim is to increase AIC over gen- erations to where it is almost 100 per cent sovereign.” ■
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