Page 16 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2022

16 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
MAY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
ELBIT SYSTEMS OF AUSTRALIA COMPLETES IT AND SECURITY OVERHAUL
ELBIT Systems of Australia (ELSA) has completed an extensive IT and security overhaul as part of a transformation to become a ‘fully fledged’ Australian sover- eign subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd.
“The transformation was aimed at mak- ing ELSA a more Australian subsidiary,” ELSA Managing Director, Major General (ret’d) Paul McLachlan, said. “It outlined a complex security and governance up- grade, and a significant IT process and hardware upgrade that saw ELSA estab- lish and sustain a secure software factory that allowed safe and secure transfer and development of cutting-edge software.
“This software could then be gifted over a firewall to where Australian-only feature points, architecture revisions, or integra- tion requirements could be developed by Australian engineers as required.”
ELSA commissioned the final piece of the hardware upgrade at its facility in Port Melbourne, Victoria.
“Our forces need a fully integrated system that offers warfighters an edge in combat,”
McLachlan said. “Our E6 BMS has the ca- pacity to fuse information from all levels of sensors from the land, air, maritime and space domains. It can allocate and define targets. It can assign traditional units or au- tonomous platforms, and it can assign joint effects all the way through the non-lethal to lethal as circumstances require.”
The transformation towards becoming a more sovereign Australian subsidiary began in 2020, and was taken in partnership with Accenture in response to what McLachlan called a “gradual, but significant shift in the Commonwealth’s policy regarding the
LEFT: ELSA Managing Director, Major General (ret’d) Paul McLachlan, said the process aimed to make ELSA a ‘more Australian’ subsidiary.
involvement of non-Five Eyes companies working across defence industry.”
“Accenture Australia partnered with ELSA in 2020 to support the design, development and implementation of IT infrastructure to augment our existing capacity to produce secure and trusted sovereign products, aligning global base- line production methods with the re- quirements of our Australian customers,” McLachlan said.
“The transformation of our Australian business across governance, physical, cy- ber and personnel – including the recent appointment of Australian Dr Karen Stan- ton as Chair of ELSA’s board of directors and our new board security committee and appointments, meet and exceed the requirements for a high level of Defence Industry Security Program.”
RONSON GEARS AWARDED SIX CONTRACTS WITH LOCKHEED MARTIN
LOCKHEED Martin has awarded six new con- tracts to Melbourne-based manufacturer Ronson Gears over the past 18 months under its Global Supply Chain (GSC) Pro- gram agreement with the Commonwealth.
Ronson Gears now has a total of elev- en GSC export contracts with Lockheed Martin to supply a range of precision gear components and assemblies for both mili- tary and commercial satellite platforms.
The Melbourne-based manufacturer was awarded its first GSC Program contract by Lockheed Martin in 2019, becoming the first-ever Australian company to supply gear components that will be carried into space.
As a further reinforcement of the strategic partnership, Ronson Gears was confirmed as part of Lockheed Martin Australia’s in- dustry team bidding to deliver Australia’s military satellite communication (MILSAT- COM) solution under project JP 9102.
Lockheed Martin Australia’s Chief Ex- ecutive, Warren McDonald, congratulated Ronson Gears on being awarded its mile- stone eleventh GSC Program contract.
“Ronson Gears’ continued success as part of the Lockheed Martin GSC Program is evi- dence of the world-class capabilities available in Australia to the space industry,” he said.
“Lockheed Martin Australia has a strong track record in developing Austra- lian Industry Capability, and we are proud of the strong partnership we have built with Ronson Gears over the past two and a half years and supported the transforma- tion of their business.”
Ronson Gears’ General Manager Gavin New added that establishing a global sup-
RIGHT: Gear components produced by Ronson Gears.
plier partnership with Lockheed Martin was the realisation of a long-term vision for the business.
The new contract is expected to pro- vide potential opportunities for Ronson Gears’ downstream suppliers in Austra- lia, including Heat Treatment Australia and Electromold Australia, which pro- vide hardening processes, passivation and magnetic particle inspection for compo- nents respectively.
RONSON GEARS
NIGEL PITTAWAY