Kongsberg Defence Australia has increased its commitment to South Australia’s burgeoning defence industry by fast-tracking development of its $25 million Australian manufacturing headquarters at Technology Park in Mawson Lakes.

Development of its 2500m2 manufacturing and office facility was originally set to be delivered in stages over three years by local company Tandem Building Group - but a jump in the number of current and future opportunities has accelerated delivery of the project.

The local subsidiary of Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace purchased 6000m2 of land at Technology Park from Renewal SA in October 2022 to support its work on a range of defence programs.

This includes the Naval Strike Missile capability for Anzac Class Frigates and Hobart Class Destroyers, the CORTEX capability for Protected Mobile Fires and the sustainment of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) Ground Based Air Defence System and PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Systems.

Kongsberg Defence Australia is currently co-located with Raytheon Australia at the Centre for Joint Integration in Mawson Lakes to deliver NASAMS for the Australian Army.

The new standalone facility – which is the first in the Asia‐Pacific region for KONGSBERG’s Defence business – will support a range of activities including manufacture, assembly, integration, test, training, verification and maintenance, as well as software development and support.

The facility will house Kongsberg Defence Australia’s 40 local team members and has been designed to cater for as many as 150 staff in coming years in roles including systems engineering, mechanical engineering and software engineering.

The facility is expected to welcome employees in June 2024.

Quotes

Attributable to Nick Champion

We welcome global defence companies like Kongsberg Defence Australia investing in Australia and choosing South Australia to expand their local presence.

Partnerships like this one have very positive impacts on South Australia’s economy and reinforces our position as Australia’s defence state.

By co-locating high technology companies together in precincts such as Technology Park we are accelerating collaboration and innovation in the high-value defence sector to maximise the capabilities these partnerships will deliver.

Attributable to John Fry, General Manager Kongsberg Defence Australia

The decision was made to invest in a new KONGSBERG facility to support existing and future growth opportunities.

Thanks to Renewal SA, we found the ideal spot at Technology Park within the defence industry ecosystem and designed a facility that we could expand in stages as our business grew.

However, current programs combined with the nature of the technology transfer from Norway to Australia, has allowed us to commit to building the entire facility and all of its stages.