Washington: Australia is poised to award a contract to produce 155mm shells domestically in the next few weeks, said defence acquisition minister Pat Conroy.
“All I can say is an announcement will be made shortly. So look out in the next little while for that announcement,” Conroy said in an interview during his visit to meet with American defence officials. Pressed for more specificity, Conroy said the timetable is within “weeks.”
Currently, Australia imports its 155mm shells from a South African subsidiary of Rheinmetall. While there is domestic production via a joint venture between a local company, NIOA, and Rheinmetall, those shells are only for export to Germany.
Few details have been made public about the pending 155mm contract from the MoD, including dollar amounts and quantity. Conroy confirmed that the NIOA-Rheinmetall team pitched on the deal, with French firm Thales also competing. However, the minister indicated that there is a third, currently unidentified, competitor as well.
“There was a — I won’t get into it — but there was a third option that was approached as well,” he said.
Since the start of the Ukraine war, 155mm shells have become a hot commodity, with international demand far exceeding production.
Raksha Anirveda's editorial desk team brings in the collective experience of creative professionals - a fine mix of senior copy editors, writers, proofreaders and designers. Working as a team, they continuously create, manage, and curate content to sustain the magazine's profile and reputation in line with market trends and achieve magazine's goal.
