News

06 Jun 2019

For the past two months, the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy ― the 28,000 tonne HMAS Canberra ― has provided a platform to promote some of Australia’s leading defence and humanitarian technologies and services to our neighbours in the Indo-Pacific.

Jakarta was the final port-of-call following a series of earlier visits to Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

Led by the Australian Defence Export Office (ADEO) in collaboration with the Indo-Pacific Endeavour Joint Task Force, and Austrade, Indo-Pacific Endeavour 19 (IPE 19) allowed some of Australia’s defence and humanitarian companies to showcase their world-class equipment and services to an audience of military decision-makers, officers, officials and industry heavyweights in the seven ports of the ship’s tour.

According to Vivien Lim, Manager of Austrade’s Defence and Advanced Manufacturing team, who participated in the Jakarta leg, this was the first time that an industry exhibition has been held as part of IPE.

‘During the official reception, our Trade Commissioner Chris Bandy emphasised our countries’ growing military cooperation, as well as the synergies between Australian defence products and the security needs of our northern neighbours,’ said Lim.

A range of companies exhibited in the 170-metre hangar of Australia’s largest amphibious and helicopter-carrying warship. These included Thales Australia, with its flagship Bushmaster and Hawkei protected mobility vehicle; DroneShield, with its best-in-class drone-neutralisation devices; and specialist aerospace engineering company, TAE Aerospace.

Also on board was a range of companies demonstrating their humanitarian and disaster relief (HDR) credentials. These included Wananchi, which specialises in water purification technologies, and emergency paramedic and evacuation company, Aspen Medical.

‘HMAS Canberra is the largest vessel ever to sail with the Australian Navy, and a superb vessel on which to showcase our advanced defence industry expertise and humanitarian equipment’, Bandy said.

‘What made the showcase so effective was using HMAS Canberra, along with the involvement of Australian military personnel and government representatives, who spoke about the products on board, some of which are actually in use by the ADF.’

Indo-Pacific Endeavour 19 demonstrates the Australian Government’s commitment to implementing the Defence Export Strategy. Unveiled in early 2018, the Strategy seeks to achieve greater export success by developing a stronger, more sustainable and globally competitive Australian defence industry, in support of Defence capability needs.

Indo-Pacific Endeavour 19 is just one example of the many ways in which the Australian Government is helping support the Strategy. For example, defence industry experts are being placed in priority markets around the world to promote Australian defence exports, alongside a full program of international trade shows and missions organised by Team Defence Australia (within the ADEO) and Austrade.

For more information about how Austrade can support you export your defence or HDR product or technology, email defence@austrade.gov.au, or visit the Australian Defence Export Office website.

To keep up-to-date with TDA events, including international trade shows, register for the Centre for Defence Industry Competitiveness (CDIC) newsletter, or email cdic_exports@industry.gov.au for more information.