Source: ITA Country Commercial Guide

Overview

Manufacturing and repair services in Australia generated revenue in excess of US$2.2 billion in 2022, reflecting a ten per cent improvement on 2021 but otherwise locked into a long-term trend of decline of approximately 40% in total revenue from a peak in 2015-16.  The decline has been apparent each year since 2015-16 (excluding the current modest recovery from the exceptional circumstances of 2020/21) and is driven by a mix of factors including cheaper offshore options and also a preference to centralize some maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities overseas in the U.S.  Exports have been climbing modestly but steadily until 2020-21 when they fell substantially by some 35%. Imports had been increasingly steadily also until 2020-21 when they fell by 20%. Industry statistics for the 2022-23 year show modest growth in all key area – revenue, establishments, employment, exports, imports and domestic demand.

This perception of long-term decline in terms of local MRO activity is combined with a growing reliance on imports, interrupted only by the worldwide downturn in the aviation sector in 2020. However, the past three years have demonstrated growth in revenue and establishments with employment, exports and imports improving in the past two years.  The industry body is the Australian MRO Business Association (AMROBA). As the Australian aviation and tourism sectors recovered from the massive disruption of the past two years the early focus has been on the domestic market.  This has led to additional services, new routes, and demand for smaller aircraft. Cargo services have continued to do well, supported in part by the Australian Government as it sought to help air freight-dependent export industries stay in business during the worst of the international downturn in aviation services. 

Some industry projections point to confidence in domestic aviation travel returning to full capacity by the end of 2022/23 and a shift in industry focus towards ordering smaller aircraft.  Domestic and international airline revenue is forecast to return to pre-covid levels by 2025 while non-scheduled air transport revenue appears to have held up well over the past two years. Airport operators also achieved revenue growth of 44.8% in 2022-23 as passenger traffic recovered at an impressive pace.

Australia is historically a major buyer of U.S. aircraft and aircraft parts and while the quantity and value of specific items can vary dramatically from year to year, annual purchases by Australia since 2015 have averaged in excess of US$2 billion. The U.S. is also the largest source of imports, providing over half of the total. Note however that QANTAS has made a strategic decision to replace its domestic fleet with Airbus aircraft. On the other hand its major competitor Virgin Australia has opted for Boeing aircraft.

Australia also boasts one of the largest civil helicopter fleets in the world (2,200+), ranking second worldwide. Helicopters are well suited to supporting remote oil, gas and mining projects as well as island tourist resorts, aeromedical and rescue services, fire-fighting and large agricultural properties. Australia is of ongoing interest due to both its large commercial fleet as well as major defense projects focused on helicopter acquisition and maintenance. Indeed, U.S. helicopter manufacturers are the preferred providers for the defense sector given recent, prolonged issues with European-sourced options. This poses the real prospect of U.S. companies winning billions of dollars’ worth of defense business, with Boeing already announced as being chosen to supply its Apache attack helicopters.

Australia remains a substantial market for all manner of rotorcraft with a growing focus on UAVs for an ever-increasing range of tasks.  The premier trade event in support of this sub-sector – civil helicopters and UAVs – is the RotorTech Helicopter and Uncrewed Flight Exposition (best known simply as RotorTech) which is held every second year and is next due to be held at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, 4-6 June 2024.

The Australian aerospace market is also characterized by sustained strong defense purchases which has resulted in Australia flying almost exclusively U.S.-made aircraft and now boasting the world’s first all-fifth-generation air force. Military aviation is covered in the Defense chapter.

There are over 16,000 aircraft on Australia’s civil aviation register which includes approximately 11,600 powered aircraft; 2,300 helicopters; 1,000 gliders; and 450 lighter-than-air aircraft.  Leading brands are Cessna, Piper, amateur built, Robinson Helicopter, Beech, Bell Helicopter, Kavanagh Balloons, Boeing, De Havilland, Cirrus, Air Tractor, Airbus, Textron, American Champion, Bombardier, and Pilatus. There are over 700 design, maintenance, maintenance training, parts manufacturing, and parts distribution organizations. Australia is a key market in, and a major distribution point for, the Asia Pacific.

Leading Sub-Sectors    

Australia has committed to a long-term expansion including approx. US$ 200 billion investment in new acquisitions, including a substantial aviation component thru to 2030.

Parts, repairs, and maintenance – airlines have shown a willingness to have work done overseas and there are also opportunities to work with Australian distributors and service providers.

Business jets – Australia operates one of the largest business jet fleets in the Indo Pacific.

Helicopters – Australia is one of the world’s largest helicopter operators

Aerial agriculture and firefighting – important market segments given Australia’s large agricultural sector and vulnerability to wildfires.

Aviation Training and Simulation – a growing sector

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – a dynamic, fast-growing sector impacting numerous industries

Opportunities    

The severe 2019/20 Australian summer demonstrated high demand for aerial firefighting services, both fixed and rotary wing.  This has led to expectations of increased resourcing of preventative measures as well as aerial firefighting resources.

Commercial airlines including QANTAS and Virgin Australia continue to be the big purchasers and despite QANTAS’ recent decision to focus on acquiring Airbus aircraft, it remains a leading long-term partner for Boeing. QANTAS also has particular objectives in the area on non-stop long distance passenger travel, aiming to connect Sydney with London and New York by this means within the decade. There is also great interest in new fuel options that reduce carbon emissions and the technology to achieve that. A newfound focus on the Australian domestic market also presents a need for more shorthaul, smaller aircraft. This presents a two-track strategy where QUANTAS’ ultra long-haul routes expand to offer direct services to the Americas and Europe and domestic aviation experiences unprecedented growth in new routes and destinations.

Virgin Australia, Australia’s second major airline, also announced in April 2021 that its recovery efforts include the reintroduction of 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

The commercial airline market sources major equipment directly from manufacturers and prefers to obtain Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) spares from approved suppliers.

In Australia, QANTAS leads the field in commercial aviation, followed by Virgin Australia. Opportunities in the aviation market include a range of products from avionics to ground support equipment. Best prospects remain in parts and components supplies for aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul of U.S.-manufactured airplanes.

Australia announced in March 2016 a 10-year, AU$195 (US$150) billion defense equipment investment program which it subsequently updated and expanded in 2020 into a AU$270 (US$190) billion acquisition program through 2029-30. This includes a heavy focus on various fixed-wing, helicopter and UAV aircraft.  This was further updated by the 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) which pointed to revised acquisition priorities but within the same quantum of expenditure. Refer to the separate Defense section for details.

Australia is also the second largest business jet market in the Asia Pacific, purchasing approximately 184 aircraft in 2019, and growing rapidly. While that trend was interrupted by the travel restrictions 2020-2021 it also had the reverse impact of demonstrating a ‘safer’ and faster international option for corporate and wealthy travelers. Future sales prospects are quite encouraging.

Australia also has a small but growing space industry including one of the most active space start-up sectors worldwide. General focus is on the smaller operations – cubesats and launch facilities for smaller rockets/payloads with two centers under development in South Australia and the Northern Territory. There is a long history of collaboration with NASA and U.S. industry in support of both manned and unmanned space missions; extensive take-up of space-based services for communications, agricultural, geospatial and navigational purposes; and the forward defense investment plan has made provision for approximately AU$7 billion (US$5.5 billion) for space-related capabilities. In June 2021 the Australian Government announced its intention to start discussions with the United States with a view to establishing a bilateral Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) to facilitate enhanced U.S. Australia collaboration, especially in launch capabilities in Australia.  It was announced in mid-2023 that the TSA had been agreed ‘in-principle’ by both countries, and the Agreement was ultimately signed on Oct. 26, 2023. Australian company Gilmour Space Technologies is also positioning to develop and demonstrate a locally developed launch vehicle with plans for an initial launch from a North Queensland facility before the end of 2023.

Source: ITA Country Commercial Guide

Overview 

The Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market is valued at approximately US$112 billion. The information technology (IT) services industry accounts for approximately one third of the total IT market and is valued at nearly US$23.5 billion. The Australian ICT market is mature with many multinational technology companies active in the local market.

According to a recent report release by Causticizer, the Australian cybersecurity market was valued at US$5 billion in 2022 and will grow to US$5.8 billion by 2024. The local cyber market is growing at over 8% annually. Much of the growth can be attributed to emerging digital threats, increased exposure to cyber risk, corporate reaction to increased regulation of cyber risk, and business’ evolution to consolidate a digital business strategy. A recent report by the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network entitled Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan suggests that over the next decade, the Australian cyber market has the potential to triple in size.

The Australian government has identified cyber security as one of the six industry sectors considered vital for the long-term prospects of the Australian economy. According to the International Telecommunications Union Cyber Index, Australia ranks as the world’s seventh most committed cyber security country. Australia’s cyber maturity is the second highest in the Indo-Pacific.

There is strong demand in Australia for cyber security services as many public and private companies lack the internal expertise to adequately and comprehensively secure their IT assets. This trend will grow over the next decade as companies will place an even greater reliance on outsourced security vendors to provide digital security solutions on their behalf.

American and Israeli companies make up the majority of the import market for IT security solutions (and the majority of the whole market). 60% of all imported solutions are of US origin and approximately 20% originate from Israel.  US companies are widely recognized as providing industry leading solutions and are well respected in the local market. In addition, Australian and American defense forces have a very strong working relationship, and if a product is approved for use with the U.S. military, the approval process for adoption by Australian counterparts is typically much simpler.

As much of the demand for cyber products and solutions is supplied by foreign vendors, it is no surprise that Australian companies do not feature in the list of the top 15 security software vendors in the local market. Australian companies only feature in a significant way in the supply of services and acting as channel partners for overseas vendors to supply specific and niche security service expertise. AustCyber suggests that one quarter of the revenue generated in the Australian cyber market is attributable to small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Of the US$5 billion total local spending on cyber security products and solutions in 2022, US$2.4 billion is derived from imports from companies that don’t have a core team in Australia, US$2.9 billion is a combination of local companies and from local subsidiaries of foreign vendors and about US$470 million in solutions and services is exported out of Australia.

In the end-user market, the federal government – including healthcare, social care, education, and defense – is the largest market for cyber sales, accounting for over 30 percent of all cyber security sales. In the corporate market, financial service firms – ANZ, NAB, CBA, Westpac, AMP, amongst others – are the largest users of cyber products. It appears that they spend more on average than most other financial institutions on a global scale. According to a recent report by industry group IDC, the cyber spend by Australian government agencies, and telecommunications, education, professional services, and transportation companies, is also greater than their counterparts in other countries.

Leading Sub-Sectors

Mobile device penetration is very high in Australia and banks are spending significant amounts of money to enable mobile banking applications. As such, the demand for mobile security solutions such as threat detection, end-point penetration, and authentication tools will be strong over the next few years. The rise of the IoT will ensure that end-point security will also be critical. The increase in compliance and regulation around data security will mean that reporting and compliance tools will also be in strong demand.

Opportunities

Overall, the market for cyber services will remain strong over the next decade as Australian companies outsource the supply of security solutions.  Much of the desire to outsource is driven by a labor shortage of cyber professionals in Australia. It’s expected that we will see increased demand for machine learning and AI solutions in the local market.

Thanks to the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, there are no tariffs on the importation of software. A goods and service tax (GST) is levied on the landed value of goods imported into Australia. GST is also applicable to services that are carried out in Australia, but not on services that are carried out remotely.

Overview

Australia has a deep and diverse collaborative relationship with the U.S. in the field of defense and security and it is attested to by a mix of agreements, some of which involve other countries, including ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and US), the Australia-U.S. Treaty on Defence Trade Cooperation, the Five Eyes intelligence partnership (Australia, NZ, Canada, UK, and US), the Quad (Australia, US, Japan and India) and most recently AUKUS (Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.) These agreements reflect an uninterrupted allied relationship stretching back to 1918. The appearance of the Quad and AUKUS is explicitly about ensuring a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific through international engagement and technology enhancement; and is implicitly in response to increased assertiveness in the region by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which challenges the prevailing international order.

The Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) agreement was announced on September 15, 2021.  The nuclear-powered  submarine element captured the most media attention at the time as neither the U.S. nor the U.K. had shared nuclear submarine technologies with any other country since they entered the U.S.-U.K. nuclear partnership in 1958. However AUKUS is more accurately described as both a trilateral technology accelerator whose scope includes nuclear-powered submarines but also explicitly includes cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and other undersea technologies other than the submarines.

Australia is a major defense market for the United States and is pursuing a multi-streamed defense acquisition policy including substantially increased total expenditure; acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, incorporating interoperability with the U.S. military; skills transfer and in-country R&D, assembly and manufacture as part of a development plan to grow the Australian defense industry; re-establishing a naval shipbuilding industry; and pursuit of international sales from Australian-produced defense systems.

Annual total defense expenditure is of the order of US$25–30 billion and defense acquisition and sustainment is a large part of this figure. Australia’s already substantial defense purchases were strengthened in March 2016 by the release of the Defence White Paper which detailed a US$145 billion defense acquisition plan for the decade to FY 2025-26. More recently, Australia’s defense acquisition planning has been further strengthened by the 2020 Defence Strategic Update which details a ten-year US$190 billion defense acquisition plan ending FY 2029-30. Following the election of a new Australian Government in May 2022, a Defence Strategic Review (DSR) was implemented to re-examine Australia’s defense priorities and consequential future defense acquisitions. A highly-summarized version of the DSR was publicly released in April 2023.

The previous Australian Government had committed to defense investments including an unspecified number of nuclear-powered submarines; 9 anti-submarine warfare frigates (to be built by UK company BAE Systems); 12 patrol vessels (Germany); 7 P-8 Poseidon aircraft (U.S.); 72 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters (U.S.); 12 E/A-18G Growler airborne electronic warfare aircraft (U.S.); helicopters of various types (United States has multiple options); missile defense systems (probably U.S.); a long-range rocket system (probably U.S.); a new generation of armored vehicles (Germany); and upgrading the main battle tank fleet (U.S.). In addition, there was to be a host of investments including upgrades to airports, training areas, army bases, naval facilities, and cyber and communications systems. U.S. industry is well-placed to win some of this business, particularly in collaboration with Australian industry. A major cyber initiative titled Project REDSPICE was also announced in the 2022-23 Budget.

Australia’s defense equipment investment program includes a shared focus on expanding its indigenous capabilities while also acquiring the most effective international offerings, more often than not from the U.S. Australia is a major importer of defense systems and a leading customer of the United States – consistently a top 10 market as measured in Commerce defense trade data and reaching as high as 2nd in 2017. An independent Swedish institute – the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – also measures military expenditure and arms trade worldwide and it has ranked Australia as the U.S.’ 2nd largest defense market for the 16 years 2007-2022. While defense trade statistics are open to some debate, the trend is nevertheless clear. Australia buys big from the U.S. and it continues to do so over an extended period of time.

Many U.S. defense companies have large presences in Australia, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Collins Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Honeywell, General Dynamics, and Raytheon. And not forgetting BAE Systems which while U.K. based has a substantial U.S. subsidiary in BAE Systems, Inc. These companies and many smaller U.S. companies have won substantial defense contracts in Australia, commonly involving teams of companies bidding for complex projects. 

Australia’s defense industry is also a major investor in the United States, with Australian defense companies now present in over thirty U.S. states. The Australian Defence Sales Catalog is available online and will be of interest for U.S. companies who are looking for potential Australian partners and/or distributors as well as those who trade in military equipment, including of U.S. origin.

Note also that there is a particularly strong American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) with offices across the country, including its most recent addition in Canberra.

U.S. companies also have the in-country support of U.S. export promotion agencies – specifically the U.S. Commercial Service with an aerospace and defense specialist based in the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, along with a uniformed team at the Office of Defense Cooperation, also located in the U.S. Embassy, tasked with facilitating U.S. solutions for a range of Australian defense projects. Both offices actively engage with U.S. companies and the Advocacy Center in Washington DC to advocate on behalf of U.S. bids for defense projects in Australia.

U.S. industry is a likely key beneficiary of decisions concerning weapons systems, although the scale and diversity of the total program of acquisitions means there will need to be a number of collaborative bids for projects involving third countries and incorporating Australian industrial capabilities. Two major Australian decisions announced in January 2022 included the selection of Boeing’s Apache Guardian helicopter and General Dynamics Land Systems’ M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks in multi-billion projects that will deliver exceptional attack helicopter and armored combat capabilities. Numerous other projects of varying size will likely also feature U.S. suppliers.

Australian defense expenditure is closely aligned with its territorial claims to, and associated defense of, the largest jurisdiction of any nation – 10 million square miles or 27.2 million square kilometers – split almost evenly between land and ocean and stretching from the South Pole to just short of the Equator. This places a heavy burden on the nation’s military and its border security services. Australia’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR) covers approx. 53 million square kilometres or nearly eleven per cent of the Earth’s surface.

The Australian Defence Force is widely regarded as the most potent military force in the Southern Hemisphere, comprising some 60,000 full-time personnel and over 20,000 active reserves, operating a technologically advanced portfolio of weapons platforms. In March 2022 the former Australian Government announced long term plans to grow Australian military personnel to 80,000 by 2040. While that commitment is not binding on the current government, it is reasonable to extrapolate a stronger Australian Defence Force over time as a range of investments are delivered impacting on both the uniformed and civilian workforce, including a large investment in cyber capabilities, as well as increasing use of unmanned systems in all domains. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) which provides foreign signals intelligence, cybersecurity advice and offensive cyber operations to meet Australia’s defense needs is set to receive USD 6.3 billion over the next decade to deliver on the REDSPICE cyber and intelligence capabilities. REDSPICE is an acronym for Resilience, Effects, Defence, Space, Intelligence, Cyber Enablers. Australia has a strong, apolitical commitment to national defense and a shared understanding that the international environment is becoming increasingly contested, including in regions neighboring Australia and indeed within Australia.

After many years focusing on strengthening its air force, by 2020-21 Australia was able to boast the world’s first all-fifth-generation air force, flying almost exclusively U.S.-made product. This included Australia being a major customer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.  In parallel there has been a shift in emphasis towards making major land forces acquisitions and even more so to deliver on ambitious naval capabilities. Indeed, the replacement and upgrade of its submarine fleet was a major defense objective that featured in multiple strategic planning documents (notably the Naval Shipbuilding Plan in May 2017 with an estimated total investment of USD 70 billion) prior to the momentous 2021 AUKUS announcement which committed Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. to the development of an Australian nuclear-powered submarine fleet, among a range of other initiatives.  The submarine element alone is estimated to cost Australia USD 180 billion – USD 250 billion between now and the mid-2050s.

The AUKUS initiative aims to boost defense capabilities, accelerate technological integration and expand the industrial capacity of all three nations. It comprises two pillars: Pillar 1 is a trilateral effort to support Australia in acquiring conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs); and Pillar 2 focuses on expediting cooperation in critical technologies, including cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, additional undersea capabilities, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic, and a range of other initiatives.

U.S. companies looking to showcase their capabilities to Australia and its Asia Pacific neighbors should consider exhibiting in the U.S. Pavilions at one of the three leading biennial defense trade shows and conferences held in Australia – Indo Pacific Maritime (November 7-9, 2023 in Sydney), Land Forces (September 11-13, 2024 in Melbourne) and the Avalon Airshow (March 25-30, 2025) – or other specialist events like MilCIS (held annually in Canberra), RotorTech and  MRO Australasia.  Avalon has emerged as the single largest showcase of U.S. capabilities in any industry at any event in the Indo Pacific, with the 2023 event featuring 150 U.S. exhibitors including 86 in the U.S. Pavilion that also featured nine U.S. states. Indo Pacific Maritime is the next scheduled major defense event in late 2023.

Total U.S. defense sales to Australia are hard to quantify due to their nature and to differing definitions of what constitutes a ‘defense’ sale, but Australian government sources confirm annual defense purchases from the U.S. have exceeded US$3 billion per annum in recent years. While equipment of diverse kinds dominates Australian defense purchasing it also invests heavily in services including cyber/electronic warfare, training and facilities construction.  Equipment supply includes leading edge technologies such as the MQ-4C Triton remotely piloted aircraft from Northrop Grumman announced in June 2018 to be supplied via a cooperative program with the U.S. Navy. Six or possibly seven MQ-4C RPAS are planned to be acquired under the AIR 7000 project, with a total potential value in the range USD 3-5 billion. And while various companies have or will win the prime contractor roles to deliver these large projects, that still leaves extensive specific supply opportunities for U.S. companies within their scope.  For example, while UK company BAE Systems will build the AU$35 billion (US$27 billion) SEA 5000 fleet of anti-submarine warfare frigates, the United States will supply its Aegis combat management system as a critical component and Australian industry content is expected to reach 65-70%, further opening up opportunities for U.S. companies and their subsidiaries to work with local Australian partners.

The key source document for future defense purchases has been the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, which was released in July 2020.  It is accessible online and updates the 2016 Defence White Paper explaining Australia’s defense strategy and planned acquisitions.  The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) is the most current guide to future defense investments but the public version does not provide project budget details. Useful additional analysis can be found in the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report ‘The Big Squeeze – ASPI defence budget brief 2023-2024’.

Leading Sub-Sectors

The scale of the defense acquisition is so great that U.S. companies would be well advised to review the DSR 2023, 2021 AUKUS announcement; 2020 Defence Strategic Update and the preceding 2016 Defence White Paper; identify potential opportunities from the information provided; and subsequently reach out to the U.S. Commercial Service and/or the Office of Defense Cooperation in Canberra, for more detailed advice. Key documents accessible online are noted below.

Opportunities

Strong promotion is essential. Three major defense trade shows held in Australia on a rolling two-year cycle, each featuring a U.S. Pavilion are the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, which is held in alternate years from  the Singapore Air Show; the Indo-Pacific International Maritime Exposition; and Land Forces. While transportation restrictions and border closures constrained normal business interaction 2019-2021 these three events have been progressively setting new exhibitor records for Australian defense trade shows – Land Forces 2021 (718), Indo-Pacific Maritime 2022 (731) , Land Forces 2022 (810) and the Avalon Airshow (794). There are also specialized events such as the annual Military Communication and Information Systems (MilCIS) trade show and conference held in Canberra in November and which usually features a strong U.S. exhibitor presence. Approx 30 per cent of the 150 or so exhibitors are U.S. in any one year and such is its specialized significance that almost half of the exhibitors at the 2019 event were U.S.-based or Australian subsidiaries of U.S. companies and indeed all the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of the five Five Eyes nations (U.S., UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) attended and delivered keynote presentations.

It is worth noting that Avalon, Indo-Pacific Maritime, and Land Forces (and the helicopter industry trade show RotorTech) are all organized by one company – the AMDA Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit corporation established to promote the development of aviation and Australia’s industrial, manufacturing and information/communications technology resources in the fields of aviation, aerospace, maritime, defence and security. Kallman Worldwide of New Jersey promotes and manages U.S. Pavilions at Avalon, Land Forces and Indo-Pacific Maritime.  A U.S. Pavilion at MilCIS is not required since at least 30% of exhibitors are U.S. or U.S. subsidiaries.

Key defense acquisition and sustainment projects are profiled on the Australian Department of Defence website. Project opportunities are advertised via tender and can be found on the AusTender website.  U.S. companies should pay particular attention to the Australian Government’s Industry Capability Plan requirements and objectives.  Australia is determined to reverse a decline in its defense industry capabilities, starting with the rejuvenation of its naval shipbuilding, and has a strategy to turn Australia into a leading defense exporter in the mid-term.  While not mandating specific Australian content requirements or offsets, Australia is determined to see that everything that can be done in Australia should be done in Australia and has been quite clear that those companies that bid on that basis will be looked upon more favourably than those that do not.

Note that this framework still leaves enormous opportunities for U.S. companies to sell directly; in collaboration with an Australian distributor / partner; and / or via an Australian subsidiary or contracted partner delivered some work in-country.  It is about ‘clever supply’ that delivers enhanced capabilities in Australia while also achieving export success to U.S. exporters and manufacturers. U.S. industry is a preferred partner, benefits strongly from Australia’s determination to deliver interoperability with the U.S. military, and easily wins the largest share of defense business going to non-Australian suppliers, as well as a large share of Australian industry business via its Australian subsidiaries.