Page 8 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

8 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
MERGER CREATES NEW PLAYER IN AI AND SENSOR MARKET
SOUTH Australian companies Consilium Technology and elmTEK have joined forces to form a new group. The merger is being backed by Pemba Capital Partners, supporting the new group’s ‘ambitious growth targets.’
The founders said the ‘synergies’ between elmTEK and Consilium make a ‘natural al- liance’ that will enable the new group to increase its scale and capabilities in the de- livery of large defence and space programs, and other sectors such as agriculture, min- ing, logistics, energy and infrastructure.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve proven ourselves and built a truly fantastic busi- ness focused on solving mission critical problems at pace for defence and other customers,” said elmTEK co-founder and Managing Director Ganen Ganeswaran.
RIGHT: elmTEK and Consilium have merged
CEO of Consilium Technology, Seth Thuraisingham said the new group’s ca- pabilities in sensors, simulation and AI are critical to solving defence challenges, improving productivity in agriculture and lowering costs and improving margins in medium to large enterprises.
“We’re excited about the competitive advantage that the combined capabilities of elmTEK and Consilium can provide for Australian industry, and the opportunity to grow the export of our Australian-owned intellectual property and products to inter-
national markets,” Thuraisingham said. Professor Tanya Monro, Chief Defence Scientist, said Defence has an ongoing and successful working relationship with
both Consilium and elmTEK.
“Innovation – to grow and sharpen De-
fence capability – must deliver advantages for Australia quickly, tangibly and endur- ingly. It is good to see Australian Defence Industry supporting and accelerating the development of disruptive technologies beyond the research and initial demon- stration stages,” Prof Monro said.
US APPROVES AGM-88E2 ANTI-RADIATION MISSILE SALE TO AUSTRALIA
THE US State Department has approved Australia’s request to purchase AGM- 88E2 AARGM E2 missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of US$94 million (A$134.8 million).
The AGM-88E2 is an Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) for the EA-18G Growler.
Australia requested to buy up to fifteen (15) AGM-88E2 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) Guidance Sec- tions; up to fifteen (15) AARGM Control Sections; up to fifteen (15) High Speed
Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) Rocket Motors; up to fifteen (15) HARM War- heads; and up to fifteen (15) HARM Con- trol Sections.
Also included in the proposed sale are AGM-88E2 AARGM All Up Round (AUR) tactical missiles; AGM-88E2 AARGM Captive Air Training Missile (CATM); HARM G-Code AUR; HARM G-Code CATM; M-Code GPS receivers; contain- ers; support and test equipment; EA-18G Growler test support; spare and repair
LEFT: An AGM-88E2 AARGM is launched from an F/A-18F during testing
parts; software (Classified and Unclassi- fied); US Government and contractor en- gineering support; and other related ele- ments of logistical and program support.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objec- tives of the United States,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.
The proposed sale is expected to im- prove Australia’s capability to suppress and destroy land- or sea-based radar emit- ters associated with enemy air defences.
“Destruction or suppression of enemy radar denies the adversary the use of air defence systems, thereby improving the survivability of its tactical aircraft,” the DSCA continued.
The principal contractors will be Northrop Grumman Information Systems (NGIS).
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
SUPPLIED