Page 131 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2021

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AIRPOWER 131
commitment to developing Australian industry capability.’ ADM spoke to both companies about the program fol- lowing the down-select decision and how they intend to
provide the ADF’s fifth-generation ambitions.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN AUSTRALIA
“Certainly Air 6500 is the cornerstone of the integrated air and missile defence capability,” Christine Zeitz, General Manager Asia Pacific for Northrop Grumman, said. “It will be used to provide the ADF with theatre wide missile defence”.
“We just signed the risk reduction activity which will progress for 12 months and we’re talking to Boeing and Raytheon around their capabilities as we go forward. And I think that’s the spirit the Commonwealth wants us to en- hance: this is about collaboration and bringing together the best of breed industry and capability outcomes.”
To facilitate NGA’s commitment to developing Australian industry, the company is utilising its recent investment in Par- allax Labs, which is a means of focusing priorities in-coun-
try and creating a collaborative environment for Air 6500. While the official launch of the lab has been delayed due to Covid-19 lockdowns in Canberra, it’s certainly no se- cret. The aim is to connect Northrop Grumman Australia and SMEs with technology transferred from NGA’s parent
company in the US.
“In our risk reduction activity we have a large num-
ber of SMEs involved, which we know is very important to transfer technology to Australian industry,” Zeitz said. “Northrop Grumman Australia is leading this program and we’re doing it through the infrastructure that we built and invested in, which we call Parallax Labs.
OPPOSITE PAGE: A missile is fired from HMAS Hobart off the US coast in 2018.
ABOVE: A US Marine Corps M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) fires a guided rocket against targets on Bradshaw Field Training Area.
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