It has been six months since Lockheed Martin was selected as a Strategic Industry Partner in the development of the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, and ideas are being turned into investments reinforcing our commitment to deliver to our customer.

“Lockheed Martin Australia, together with our industry partners are paving the way for industrial development and production,” said Pat Sunderlin, vice president of Operations for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The message is clear here: We are open for business and ready to support the national defence capabilities the country needs.”

 Lockheed Martin Australia will expand and open a program office in Canberra, along with another office in partnership with Thales Australia in Mulwala, to support various manufacturing activities. Conscia has also been selected as our strategic in-country business partner. The Canberra-based firm has a deep expertise in the planning, delivery and accreditation of facilities and infrastructure, and will assist in selecting a small pool of potential locations for central manufacturing.

“Conscia is known for delivering and as a veteran-owned business, they understand the mission,” Sunderlin said. “We’re excited to partner with them on digitally integrated production facilities where we can collaborate with our customer to create solutions.”

Lockheed Martin factories across the United States are built on digital foundations to incorporate smart manufacturing components, embrace interconnectivity and automation, and deliver cutting edge solutions to our customers rapidly and affordably. We’re converging physical and digital worlds to intelligent, flexible factories, or digitally integrated production facilities. These smart tools, connected machines, networked supply chains and Artificial Reality/Virtual Reality technology increase the speed of production and improve quality.

“Lockheed Martin continues to invest in making our facilities, processes and brilliant team members even more advanced and agile. We understand that a strong digital ecosystem will be critical to thrive in Australia,” said Sunderlin.

 Australian supply chain opportunities that build resiliency through local manufacture and further strengthen Australia’s national defence industrial base are also being identified, building upon our teaming agreement with Thales Australia in 2021. With digitally enabled tools and transparency across our global supply chain, we are bringing suppliers, partners and small businesses along as we advance the industry.

In anticipation of future manufacturing opportunities, Lockheed Martin Australia has already commenced work to identify potential industrial sites and is positioning to have sustained in-country manufacturing and strong partnerships in place as soon as possible.