LATEST NEWS

The Land Forces 2022 International Land Exposition has opened to record numbers in Brisbane today, with 810 participating exhibitor companies and visits from Chief of Army and Australia’s Assistant Minister for Defence.

With a dynamic crowd on the exhibition floor and conference rooms often at capacity, Day One of Land Forces reiterated the event’s position as both a catalyst for Australian industry and a conduit for engagement on Army’s future needs.

Speaking at the Land Forces 2022 opening ceremony this morning, Chief of Army,  Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, AO, DSC, said the event provided a focus for debate on Army’s challenges and future capability.

“Events such as Land Forces are such important opportunities to organise around, to come together and focus our attention on how we can collectively meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” said Lieutenant General Stuart.

Assistant Minister for Defence, the Hon. Matt Thistlethwaite MP, toured the exhibition floor today and spoke at an official luncheon.

“Many of the companies attending Land Forces are working in partnership with Defence, through the Innovation Hub, to develop cutting edge, sovereign defence capabilities,” he said.

“Over the past six years, the Defence Innovation Hub has invested around $250 million across 128 projects to develop innovative technologies for the land domain. These partnerships are primarily supporting micro, small and medium sized Australian enterprises to develop home-grown solutions.”

As always, Land Forces was the venue for major industry announcements, with Thales Australia and Kongsberg Defence Australia launching the StrikeMaster land based maritime deterrent, and Babcock Australasia announcing it will partner with Shoal Group, Buzzworks and Bond University to deliver the Land 125 Phase 4 Integrated Soldier System Program.

Justin Giddings, CEO of Land Forces 2022 organiser AMDA Foundation said the quality of exhibitors and visitors on day one led to lively discussion throughout the venue.

“It is good to see industry back, to see the high quality of debate and discussion that was going on today, and to know Army and industry are working together on tomorrow’s capability in the defence of Australia,” Mr Giddings said.

“Our exhibitors have presented very professional displays of leading Australian technologies, contributing to the nation’s goal of maintaining a highly capable sovereign defence industry.”