NIOA has announced the creation of a new business as Australia moves to manufacture its own guided missiles.
CEO Robert Nioa said the Australian Missile Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NIOA, was formed to ‘facilitate collaboration between government, industry, and academia' in response to the government’s plan to invest $1 billion in domestic missile production under the Sovereign Guided Missile Enterprise, as announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 31.
Defence said it will select an experienced strategic industry partner to build and operate the facility.
Queensland-based NIOA says it is aiming for the project through the Smart Buyer process.
"NIOA is strongly aligned with the Commonwealth Government’s mission to accelerate sovereign industrial capability and we are excited about this next phase,’’ Robert Nioa said. "As we have seen over the past 12 months with the COVID19 pandemic, it’s prudent for Australia to be more self-reliant.
"Defence is a manufacturing sector with enormous opportunity for growth. Investing in capabilities that assure supply of weapons for ADF is not only critical for the nation’s security, but it will create jobs and new business opportunities.’’
Nioa said the Australian Missile Corporation would pull together the capabilities of key strategic partners.
"Since the Prime Minister’s announcement, many companies (international Primes and Australian SMEs alike) have contacted NIOA seeking guidance as to how best they could participate in the future guided weapons enterprise,’’ Nioa said.