Page 35 - Australian Defence Magazine February 2022

1,000
Australian jobs
620
Australian businesses in our supply chain
$500M+
Total revenue
$40M
Research and development
All numbers representative of 2020/2021
The Sovereign Missile Alliance (SMA) is a joint venture between the 100-per-cent Australian owned and controlled companies Electro Optic Systems (EOS) and Nova Systems.
EOS, one of Australia’s largest defence exporters, is
a world leader in the areas of space control, missile defence, electro-optic sensors, surface warfare, kinetic and directed energy weapons, space-based communication, C4I systems, and advanced electronics and controls. EOS has the technology
in seekers, stabilisation, countermeasures, thermal design, and guidance and control, including C2 systems for anti-tank guided missiles and surface-to- air missiles.
Nova Systems has grown, from its roots as a provider of flight-testing services to the Royal Australian
Air Force in South Australia – where the company was founded in 1999 – into a leading supplier of engineering services and technology solutions to defence clients around the world, delivering specialist systems engineering advisory and management alongside advanced digital technology, software, services and systems integration solutions.
HIGH-TECH DEFENCE INDUSTRY ECOSYSTEM
Each of these parent entities has a highly developed domestic high-tech defence industry ecosystem, along with sovereign expertise in leading consortiums and ushering complex technical projects through their entire life cycle – from the drawing board to the factory floor and out into the market. Combined, they have an existing defence and aerospace portfolio representing over $1 billion of investment, backed by over $500 million in annual revenue. The joint venture operates 18 established facilities across Australia and employs over 1000 highly skilled Australian workers.
Crucially, each parent company brings to the
table longstanding relationships with an immense network of subcontractors and suppliers, the
vast majority of whom are Australia-based and Australian owned. SMA’s supply chain includes over 600 Australian businesses.
SMA occupies an almost unique position in the Australian defence ecosystem: that of a mid-tier Australian owned and controlled entity of scale. Larger than the small and medium-sized enterprises that operate at one end of the defence spectrum, and smaller than most of the foreign owned and controlled primes at the other end of that spectrum, SMA is well placed to leverage its existing Australian supply chain relationships – and in the process to become a true Australian prime defence contractor. This would bring meaningful benefits to Australia’s industrial capability and broader economy, as well as deliver a true sovereign capability to the Australian Defence Force.
SMA envisages a phased approach to the development of a domestic guided missile manufacturing capability, and has proposed an incremental plan designed to produce a top-quality sovereign family of missiles as well as ensure a sustainable, agile, scalable production capacity over time.
AN EXCITING MOMENT IN AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE HISTORY
For SMA, the GWEOE represents an exciting opportunity to innovate on a major project that will serve Australia’s national security and sovereignty. SMA is ideally positioned to seize this chance
to burnish Australia’s growing reputation for technological innovation; to bring our defence production capacity more into line with those of our key allies; to create opportunities for a wide range
of Australian suppliers; and to nurture homegrown innovation and scientific talent. As EOS and Nova Systems have proven throughout their long histories, when our best minds are encouraged to innovate, and given the resources they require to do so, the results can be spectacular.
SOVEREIGNMISSILEALLIANCE.COM.AU