Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and President Emmanuel Macron of France have announced a range of agreements to enhance bilateral defence cooperation, including the establishment of an annual Australia-France Defence Industry Symposium.
Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne will co-chair the symposium with his French counterpart, Minister Florence Parly, and said he was looking forward with working with Minister Parly to progress the initiative.
“The Australia-France Defence Industry Symposium will focus on identifying further opportunities to deepen our defence industry and capability cooperation for the benefit of both nations. Australian and French businesses already have a strong track record of partnering to develop and deliver innovative capabilities,” Minister Pyne said.
“In February, I had the pleasure of congratulating Australian business Thomas Global and France’s Safran Group on establishing a partnership to manufacture and maintain defence equipment in Australia.”
President Macron and PM Turnbull also announced research agreements between Flinders University and Centrale Nantes university, between Flinders University, Thales, and ENSTA Bretagne, and between ENSTA Bretagne and the University of Adelaide.
The first agreement will investigate the use of nanocomposite technologies for manufacturing marine propellers and 3D printing of metal-polymer composite materials. Professor Arnaud Poitou, director of Centrale Nantes, said the collaboration promises to advance global understanding in the field of marine technology.
“Centrale Nantes is pleased to welcome Flinders University to join our world leading researchers in Nantes. The research teams at Flinders will further enhance our efforts in this area to assist in developing the maritime technologies of the future” Professor Poitou said.
The second agreement will design a demonstrator for the automatic connection of maritime electro-optical links and will also test autonomy algorithms on robotic swarms at sea.
“[The agreement] provides a long term framework for collaboration in naval robotics applicable to both submarine and surface ship sonars, including opportunities to share testing facilities, operate exchange programs and facilitate joint research projects,” Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said.
The third agreement will offer a dual Master’s degree in engineering from ENSTA Bretagne and the University of Adelaide. The degree will see students – both experienced engineers and recent undergraduates – spend one semester in Brest, France, one semester in Adelaide, and a third semester in a jointly supervised industry internship.
“Our new, dual Master’s program will feed directly into the defence engineering skills base available to South Australia, as the state prepares for $89 billion of defence spending on submarines and surface ships over the coming years,” Professor Pascale Quester, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, said. “The program will target technicians and engineers from Australia or internationally who are seeking to upskill or transition from other industry sectors, such as manufacturing.”
Finally, Defence Minister Marise Payne and French Assistant Minister for Defense Mrs Genevieve Darrieussecq signed a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), which will improve ADF and French Armed Forces combined operations by enabling mutual access to logistics services, resources and logistics training.
“We conduct vital humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training with the French, including through the upcoming Exercise Croix du Sud, and this treaty will improve our ability to work together in response to events in the South Pacific,” Minister Payne said.
PM Turnbull and Ministers Payne and Pyne also thanked President Macron and the French Government for its ongoing support for Australia’s $50 billion Future Submarine Program.
The symposium and research agreements were announced as part of the Australia-France Initiative (AFiniti) signed by Turnbull and President Macron.
AFiniti will strengthen collaboration on emerging priorities in Australian-French cooperation.