• Credit: Defence
    Credit: Defence
  • A Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle – Light, four-door variant at the Taji Military Complex, Iraq.
    A Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle – Light, four-door variant at the Taji Military Complex, Iraq.
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Penguin Composites has partnered with the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) to explore hybrid composite materials in defence manufacturing.

The Tasmanian business, which supplies bonnets and other parts for Army's Hawkei protected vehicles, has joined an existing DMTC project to enhance platform-independent technologies that can be applied across supply chains including in the land, maritime, aerospace and space sectors. 

“The partnership will explore the development of new compounds with unique characteristics that could, as one example, enhance the performance of military vehicles and reduce manufacturing costs,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said.

“DMTC was delivering the collaboration and focus on innovation that was envisaged in the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement, in this case through exploring the potential of novel material compounds.” 

Penguin Composites will join existing DMTC project partners Thales Australia, Imagine Intelligent Materials and research partners from University of Queensland, Swinburne University of Technology, Deakin University and RMIT.

“The involvement of both researchers and industry partners will allow the team to test new configurations and identify the differences in performance compared to conventional materials,” Minister Pyne said. 

“With that deeper level of understanding, the team can then turn their attention to challenges in maximising efficiency and developing cost effective manufacturing solutions for these innovative material systems.” 

“I’m pleased to see another industry partnership endeavouring to enhance Defence capabilities and boost Australia’s industrial knowledge base and capacity.”

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