Thales Australia's Lithgow Arms has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Våbenfabrikken in Denmark to collaborate on creating a small arms production capability in the European country.
The collaboration aims to produce, maintain and sustain NATO-interoperable small arms in Denmark. The first tranche of the project will explore options to produce a Danish version of the Australian Combat Assault Rifle (ACAR) in-country, known as the Danish/Australian Combat Assault Rifle (DACAR).
"This agreement is the culmination of mutual effort, investment and trust between Våbenfabrikken, Thales Australia and Thales Denmark. This cooperation brings opportunities for both Australia, in respect to regional manufacturing, and Denmark through the provision of small arms assembly, sustainment and maintenance," said Thales Australia's Director of Integrated Weapons System, Matt Duquemein.
"We’re looking forward to working closely with Våbenfabrikken in the coming years.”
Våbenfabrikken is an established Danish weapons training provider and gunsmith based in Copenhagen.
"We are very excited to work with Thales to bring a NATO small arms production and through-life-support capacity to Denmark for the first time in nearly 60 years," said the Chairman of the Board of Våbenfabrikken, Kim Wiencken.
"The DACAR is a powerful capability and, once in country, over time it will offer additional export opportunities for Denmark."