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 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 roots back to the 1890s.

For many years, ADI was the sole indigenous defence contractor in Australia; however, a rival in the form of Tenix Defence 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 EF88 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; 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.

During October 2006, it was announced that the Australian federal government had permitted the regional conglomerate Transfield Holdings to sell their 50% shareholding in ADI to the Thales Group'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.

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, electronic warfare systems, mission computers, flight simulators, sonar and mine detection apparatus. Thales Australia also offers numerous security-related services, including secure communications, infrastructure security, border protection technologies, ID management, and cryptology.

On 29 June 2020, Thales Australia agreed to enter into a joint tenancy, alongside NIOA, of the government-owned munitions factory in Benalla, in addition to continuing its sole tenancy of the government-owned propellant factory in Mulwala.

References

  • ADI/Thales Smokeless Powder Handloaders Guide
  • Official RAN Anzac Frigate listing
  • Thales Australia Bushmaster page