Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

. Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous programmes in conjunction with the Australian Defence Force, as well as overseas operators. It specialises in the design and delivery of various systems, products and services for both commercial and defence sectors.

Services

The company can trace its routes back to the 1890s. It gradually developed its industrial base and grew to become a major indigenous defence specialist, handling the design, manufacture, and through-life support of various defence systems. Accordingly, the firm, previously known as Australian Defence Industries (ADI) has operated numerous long-term contracts with the Australian government and the Australian Defence Forces alike. For many years, ADI was the sole indigenous defence contractor in Australia; however, a rival in the form of

Tenix Defence Tenix Defence was Australia's largest defence contractor with core capabilities in Aerospace, Land, Marine and Electronic Systems applications. BAE Systems announced its intention to acquire the company from Tenix in January 2008 and the acquisiti ...

was created as a subsidiary of Tenix Group company in 1997. While at one point Tenix Defence had displaced ADI as the biggest military contractor in the nation, British defence firm BAE Systems completed the acquisition of Tenix Defence during June 2008 in exchange for A$775 million (£373 million). As ADI, the company manufactured various small arms, including the Steyr AUG-based F88 Austeyr assault rifle at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, along with a variety of smokeless powders for reloading rifle, pistol & shotgun cartridges. ADI was also a major producer of Australian armoured vehicles, such as the Bushmaster and

Hawkei The Hawkei is a light four-wheel-drive protected mobility vehicle originally designed to meet an Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirement for a light armoured patrol vehicle to replace some of its Land Rover Perentie variants. The Hawkei is ...

; it developed region-specific modifications for imported military vehicles as well. The production of the Bushmaster reportedly comprised over a quarter of the firm's export sales during 2009. Throughout much of the company's existence, ADI was based on Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney, it also maintained a R&D/Custom production facility in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. During 2004, ADI controversially applied to the Australian Equal Opportunities Commission to exclude workers of certain nationalities for security reasons. During October 2006, it was announced that the

Australian federal government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

had permitted the regional conglomerate

Transfield Holdings Transfield Holdings is a privately owned Australian investment company with experience in industrial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy. History Transfield Holdings's origins can be traced to 1956 when an Italian-born immigrant ele ...

to sell their 50% shareholding in ADI to the

's Australian holdings, the Australian branch of the French military engineering firm. Accordingly, all ADI operations have been acquired by the company, which is now known as Thales Australia. Thales Australia is perhaps best known for its naval ship repair operations and, , leases the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney and also leases and occupies many of the buildings there. ADI's large site in St Marys in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

is progressively being repatriated for residential development with their munitions capability being consolidated in

Benalla Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative cent ...

, Victoria and their testing facilities being sold to Vipac Engineers and Scientists. In addition to the supply of complete warships, Thales Australia handles the integration of various elements of naval equipment, including

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

, communications, optronics and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

systems, in addition to miscellaneous support services. By 2010, Thales Australia reportedly employed 3,300 people spread across 35 sites, the majority of which were based in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. At the same time, roughly 65 per cent of the firm's activity was within the defence sector, with transport, security, and aerospace comprising the remainder. By 2020, the company had opened two additional sites and had 3,900 employees throughout Australia. Thales Australia has been involved in various aerospace programmes, having specialised in avionics and aerospace-grade electronics. By 2010, the firm was engaged in the Eurocopter Tiger and NHIndustries NH90 helicopter programmes, serving as the major maintenance, spares and systems supplier on behalf of the Australian Defence Force. It has also been a supplier of various avionics and subsystems, including digital mapping, navigation, communications,

systems, mission computers,

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

and mine detection apparatus. The company has developed a range of solutions for the

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

function. By the 2010s, one growing sector of the firm has been its services division. Thales Australia has delivered various programmes related to mass transportation and public infrastructure, including the Auckland Public Transport Ticketing system, designing and implementing

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The ma ...

infrastructure, and

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

containerisation. Transport-specific services include command and control systems, railway signalling, security, and communications solutions. Thales Australia also offers numerous security-related services, including secure communications, infrastructure security, border protection technologies, ID management, and

cryptology Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

. On 29 June 2020, Thales Australia agreed to enter into a joint tenancy, alongside

NIOA NIOA is an Australian armament and munitions company, headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Nioa family, it is a privately held company which is a supplier of arms and ammunition to the sporting, law enforcement and mili ...

, of the government-owned munitions factory in

, in addition to continuing its sole tenancy of the government-owned propellant factory in Mulwala.

References

External links

*
ADI/Thales Smokeless Powder Handloaders GuideOfficial RAN Anzac Frigate listingThales Australia Bushmaster page
Defence companies of Australia Manufacturing companies of Australia Thales Group divisions and subsidiaries Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies Military vehicle manufacturers {{Australia-company-stub