Page 6 - Defence Industry Guide #55

6 EDITORIAL
ADM’s Defence Industry Guide 2022 | Edition 55 | www.defencesuppliers.com.au
WELCOME TO THE 55TH EDITION
EWEN LEVICK | MELBOURNE
WELCOME to the 55th edition of the Defence Indus- try Guide. The second half of 2021 certainly saw some interesting developments in our sector. Most notably, of course, was the Commonwealth’s deci- sion to walk away from the Attack class submarine contract with France in favour of a nuclear-powered submarine under the AUKUS agreement with the US and the UK.
the dark. Although the government set up the Sov- ereign Shipbuilding Talent Pool to redistribute ship- building talent through the sector, it was recently revealed in a Senate Estimates hearing that only 11 people out of hundreds affected had successfully found a new position.
Beyond submarines, the second half of 2021 also saw a number of headwinds. The pandemic strained global supply chains, dramatically increased the cost of overseas freight for Australian defence exporters, and forced the cancellation of the Avalon Air Show and the postponement of the MilCIS tradeshow, tra- ditionally held each November in Canberra.
Yet despite these challenges, the size of the De- fence Industry Guide in your hands shows a level of optimism in Australian defence industry heading into 2022. At ADM Group, we share this optimism. Our editorial program for 2022 covers the work of many companies in these pages, with editions to support shows such as the rescheduled MilCIS, as well as the Indo-Pacific Maritime Exposition in May.
So whether you are looking for capable suppliers experienced in Defence business, or the latest news and analysis on Australia’s defence sector and beyond, ADM Group has you covered. ■
“THE SIZE OF THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY GUIDE IN YOUR HANDS SHOWS A LEVEL OF OPTIMISM”
Although there are clear opera- tional merits to nuclear propulsion in Australia’s strategic circum- stances, there is still enormous uncertainty as to how the Com- monwealth will procure these sub- marines in a realistic timeframe. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has personally set the goal of see- ing the first submarine ‘in the wa- ter’ before 2040, but it seems the RAN will be operating the Collins class well beyond that date – risk- ing a yawning subsurface gap in Australia’s naval power.
This decision also left many companies and work- ers that were involved in Sea 1000 almost totally in
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