December 2023 newsletter

Defence is establishing four Regional Maintenance Centres (RMC) at strategic ports around the country, to provide maintenance and sustainment for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) fleet. Each RMC will have an industry provider appointed to coordinate and deliver maintenance activities. The 4 RMCs are North East (Cairns), East (Sydney), West (Henderson) and North (Darwin).

On Monday 4 December 2023 the Australian Government announced the provider for RMC-North as the NORSTA Joint Venture (JV). This is a collaboration between Norship, Tropical Reef Shipyard, Nova Systems and Secora. NORSTA are intending to maximise use of local subcontractors and have already held an industry briefing on Wednesday 13 December 2023, in partnership with the Industry Capability Network NT.

Around $150 million will be invested in establishing RMC-North, which will create dozens of direct jobs and support hundreds more in the supply chain over time. RMC-North will provide greater certainty and consistency of maritime maintenance work, enabling local industry to invest in capability and workforce development.

NORSTA Maritime is now inviting expressions of interest from local maritime maintenance service providers and suppliers. For more information on these opportunities, go to the ICN Gateway.

In an exciting step for the Northern Territory’s digital economy, construction has commenced on a new data centre in Darwin. NEXTDC Limited is building D1 Darwin, an $80 million critical infrastructure project that will house approximately 1,500 racks and support up to 8MW IT load.

The project is within walking distance from the new Charles Darwin University CBD campus. Construction is being managed by Kapitol Group NT, and is expected to create and support up to 200 jobs.

This new NEXTDC data centre will offer critical digital infrastructure to support all levels of business and government in addition to an innovation centre providing collaborative spaces to enable Territory technology innovators, start-ups and growth companies.

D1 Darwin will utilise domestic and subsea cables into Darwin to securely connect and support data storage for Australian and overseas customers, and will offer national and international connectivity through the VOCUS’ Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore sub-sea cable project which was lit earlier this year.

There is already significant customer interest in D1 Darwin, with the facility supporting strong growth for the digital economy in the region, including defence industry projects. It is anticipated the first stage of D1 Darwin will be operational in mid-2024. The addition of new sub-sea and terrestrial cables into Darwin is expected over the next few years which will support the future expansion as NEXTDC progress the remaining planned stages of this critical infrastructure facility.

Territory-based SPEE3D was recently awarded the Northern Territory exporter of the year. Founded in 2016 SPEE3D is a leading advanced manufacturer through 3D printing. They have created a world-leading 3D metal printer that can rapidly manufacture components in a variety of different metals and alloys.

SPEE3D export their products to countries all over the world including the United States, Europe and Asia, focussing on assisting defence industry.

In the past 3 years, SPEE3D has successfully commercialised their XSPEE3D technology and are now exporting it to the UK and the US defence industries. Their technology has been extensively tested by the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy. In the past 12 months, SPEE3D has also targeted new customers in the international defence industries as well as expanding their presence in the natural resource sector.

Ukraine is the latest defence force to use SPEE3D technology to produce critical replacement parts in the field at the point of need. The Australian Government is providing Ukraine with additional SPEE3D equipment and training as part of their recently announced $20 million package of military assistance to Ukraine.

Congratulations SPEE3D.

Following the DSR a restructure of the Australian Army was announced, reorienting force posture to northern Australia and increasing focus on littoral environment warfare. Army’s 1st Brigade, based at Robertson Barracks, is pivoting towards being a light combat brigade, which will be equipped to be more agile and deploy in littoral environments.

Program LAND 8710 will provide the Australian Army with contemporary landing craft vessels to conduct littoral manoeuvre operations throughout the Indo Pacific. Under the United States Force Posture Initiative (USFPI) and Marine Rotation Force - Darwin (MRF-D), it is anticipated the north will also start to see an increase in US littoral manoeuvre platforms visiting and training in the region.

On 23 November 2023 the Minister for Defence announced a new strategic partnership between Defence and Austal Limited which will see Austal build the Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel Medium (LMV-M), designed by Australian marine engineering firm Birdon Group Pty Ltd. Subject to successful commercial negotiations and ongoing project performance, the Commonwealth intends for the Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Heavy (LMV-H) to also be constructed by Austal.

It is understood that both medium and heavy variants will be allocated to Army Brigade’s in northern Australia, with basing, sustainment and maintenance arrangements still to be determined. The Northern Territory Government remains actively engaged with Defence regarding the future training, support and sustainment of the Army littoral manoeuvre capability.

Defence is modernising the Defence Industry Security Program membership application process for Australian businesses with the launch of a new online application portal. The Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) is a membership-based program that helps companies establish and maintain security standards necessary for engaging with Defence and the Defence supply chain.

Through the new portal, DISP applicants can now complete and lodge membership applications and supporting documentation online, providing an improved user experience and streamlined application processing. DISP memberships provide Defence with assurance that systems and processes are in place to mitigate security risks, and supports Defence industry to understand their security obligations.

For more information on the Defence Industry Security Program, go to the Australian Government Defence website.

#CHECKYOURMATES is a peer led mental health and suicide prevention action campaign supported by Mates4Mates and DefenceNT, where individuals are challenged to check in with 5 mates over the Christmas and New Year period.

Earlier this month, Veterans’ Minister, Brent Potter MLA, officially launched the campaign at Mates4Mates with a light breakfast and a yarn about #CheckYourMates

Checking in with mates during vulnerable times leads to catch ups and conversations increasing wellbeing within the veterans and wider community.

You can #CheckYourMates by:

• connecting and making time to meet
• yarning and taking the time to listen
• motivating and encouraging action and support to get more help.

DefenceNT urges you to take part in this campaign and check-in with your mates over the holiday season.

To learn more about the event, go to the Northern Territory Government website.

The $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) is now open. The NRF is an independent financier funded by the Federal Government that operates commercially to deliver a positive rate of return. It will be governed by a board who will make independent investment decisions guided by an investment mandate.

NRF offer debt, equity or guarantees to Australian companies, and will finance projects that align with the 7 priority areas (including defence capability) to leverage Australia’s natural and competitive strengths.

In performing its functions, the NRF considers the below when looking at individual investments:

• growing industrial capability
• helping industry pursue value-adding opportunities
• improving economic diversity
• crowding-in private finance
• decarbonisation
• creating secure jobs and a skilled, adaptable workforce
• boosting supply chain resilience
• commercialising Australian innovation.

For more information on the National Reconstruction Fund, go to the NRF website.

The Australian Government has officially opened the $392 million Industry Growth Program to help start-ups and small businesses commercialise and grow their companies.

The Industry Growth Program includes:

• the delivery of advisory services by a national network of expert business growth and commercialisation advisers that will provide guidance on seeking investment, market testing, business models, and networking.
• the delivery of matched grant funding ranging from $50,000 to $5 million to eligible start-ups and innovative small and medium enterprises.

Supporting projects under National Reconstruction Fund priority areas, the Industry Growth Program will help expand the pipeline of businesses working to transform and diversify Australia’s economy.

Businesses can apply for expert advice now, go to the Australian Government Business website, with grant funding opening in early 2024.

Sitting within the Australian Defence Export Office, Team Defence Australia is the premier national platform for export-capable Australian defence and dual-use companies to showcase their goods, services, technology and solutions at international trade events.

Team Defence Australia works with defence industry, the Office of Defence Industry Support (ODIS), Austrade and state and territory governments to help prepare Australian delegation’s attendance at overseas trade shows and ensure they maximise their international exposure.

Team Defence Australia will continue to release expressions of interest for the industry delegations for these tradeshows via Australian Defence Export Office on the ICN Gateway website.

For a list of 2024 trade shows and more information on the preparation and costs, view Team Defence Australian on the Defence website.

Projects in contract:

• Darwin Ship Lift Project
• EST00346 Tindal Redevelopment / EST00347 KC-30A Facilities
• RAAF Darwin Refresh Program
• USFPI Northern Territory Training Areas and Ranges Project 
• Ventia Defence Base Services NT
• Regional Maintenance Provider - North

NORSTA MARITIME: Regional Maintenance Provider - North (icn.org.au)

NORSTA has expanded its operations to encompass a northern Australian delivery model to deliver maintenance services to support the current and future Defence vessels in Darwin as the Regional Maintenance Provider North (RMP-N).

NORSTA is purely established for the purposes of delivering the RMP program and we will work in partnership with the Commonwealth and our local partners and other members of the Technical Support Network (TSN) to transform the regional supply chain.

NORSTA would like to extend this opportunity to local Australian businesses in the Northern Territory and invite expressions of interest from regional suppliers.

NORSTA MARITIME: Regional Maintenance Provider - North (icn.org.au)

Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator - Emerging Disruptive Technologies - Exploration - 2023

Emerging Disruptive Technologies will invest in future forecasting and horizon scanning campaigns, drawing on subject matter expertise from DSTG, and build on enterprise level external engagement mechanisms to help nurture and shape the innovation, science and technology ecosystem to support the future force.

For more information, go to the AusTender website.

Airborne Solutions Opportunities - Aerial Surveillance Services

Leidos Australia is seeking to maximise opportunities available for Australian industry for upcoming opportunities in 2023 and 2024, including small to medium enterprises and Indigenous enterprises.

The scope requires Leidos to deliver aerial surveillance services including scheduled, targeted and persisted surveillance in real-time. The surveillance services will be required to be delivered in a diverse range of environmental and climactic conditions to detect, classify and identify any threats.

For more information, go to the Leidos Australia website.