Page 42 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec21-Jan22

42 TOP 40 DEFENCE CONTRACTORS 2021
DECEMBER 2021 – JANUARY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
ANOTHER RECORD YEAR
2021 has been a year of great strategic significance. Through the creation of the AUKUS agreement, Australia is now wholly committed to strategic deterrence. Effective deterrence requires effective power projection, and power projection requires a robust defence industrial base. The survey you have in your hands measures the size of this defence industrial base, and is the only one of its kind to do so.
EWEN LEVICK | MELBOURNE
2021 is another record year for Australia’s defence industry. Total turnover for the Top 40 in 2021 was $13.43 billion, up slightly from $13.31 billion in 2020 and 16 per cent up from $11.61 billion the year prior. While there are several notable absences (Naval Group, Raytheon Australia, Laing O’Rourke, all four major consulting companies) similar ab- sences in 2020 means the two figures are largely comparable.
Meanwhile, the total turnover of the Top 20 SMEs has increased slightly from $1.15 billion in 2020 to $1.16 billion in 2021 (after rising 26 per cent from 2019 to 2020), and the turnover of the Top 20 Australian or NZ-owned (ANZ- owned) SMEs has increased from $760 million to $819 mil-
lion (after a 50.2 per cent jump in the previous survey). The Top 10 companies look much the same as they did in 2020. BAE Systems Australia is once again Australia’s larg- est defence industry company by turnover. Thales Australia is second, Boeing is third, Downer has jumped from sev- enth in 2020 to fourth in 2021, Ventia comes in at number five, ASC moves from ninth in 2020 to sixth in 2021, and
Lendlease drops from fourth in 2020 to tenth in 2021. “The company’s growth over the past 12 months reflects our involvement in a number of programs but particularly the continued ramping up of the Hunter Class Frigate Pro- gram and the upgrade of the Jindalee Operational Radar
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