SNC AUS, US-based SNC’s newest subsidiary, was formally launched in November 2024 by its inaugural Managing Director, Josh Rooney. The company, based in Adelaide at Lot Fourteen, has ambitious plans for local and international growth.
The company is SNC’s second subsidiary in an AUKUS country following establishment of SNC Mission Systems UK in 2019.
“Is standing up SNC AUS a risky proposition in the current fiscal constrained defense environment? Yes. SNC’s expansion into Australia is because we know it's the right thing to do to ensure the customers’ needs are met,” Rooney said at a November launch event.
The company plans to grow its headcount from less than 10 to over 50 by the end of 2025. Its workforce will support two broadly distinct business streams: sustainment and capability development.
SNC AUS’s sustainment business will primarily involve work on Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities that have been sold to Defence by the US parent company through both the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) processes. Work to sustain those capabilities, which are resident in parts of Defence including Air Force and Special Operations Command, will be enabled by the partial International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR) exemption among the AUKUS nations, which SNC AUS is in the process of gaining access to.
That exemption underpins the company’s plan to grow local capabilities it can then export not only to AUKUS nations but also other trusted partners around the world. The end goal is for SNC AUS to develop a sovereign Australian product or capability that can be exported widely to friendly nations. The exemption creates an opportunity as it offers an easier pathway into the US and UK markets for a US-owned Australian company than has previously been enjoyed. Throughout 2025, Rooney plans for the company to examine the Australian and broader AUKUS market to identify capability gaps, which SNC AUS may be positioned to fill through local investment.
“SNC AUS will grow into an amazing organization which stands head and shoulders above the Australian market. More importantly, we will stand as the arm of SNC in the Southern Hemisphere, providing stability as a trusted AUKUS partner,” he said in November.
One thing that SNC AUS’ parent company is known for is its range of missionised business jets. SNC is on contract to both operate modified Bombardier Global 6500 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) jets for the US Army and build that service’s next-generation High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) ISR platform. While there is no immediate need in Defence for additional business jet-derived platforms, with L3Harris already delivering the MC-55A for Air Force, there is an outstanding Australian Border Force (ABF) requirement.
The ABF is pursuing a replacement for its fleet of ten Dash 8 Q300 Coastwatch ISR aircraft, with a Request for Tender (RFT) anticipated to close in the second quarter of this year.