Lockheed Martin has announced a 74 million Australian dollar ($46 million) investment in Australia’s national integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) ecosystem.
IAMD aims to accelerate national collaboration to develop “world-leading capabilities that generate Australian economic benefit, jobs and export opportunities” while fueling additional workforce growth that keeps the cycle running.
The investment will establish the National IAMD Center, a hub of the ecosystem and research and development pipeline for facilitating sovereign innovations.
“IAMD is a mission that spans all services and requires a high degree of integration to be effective,” Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Warren McDonald said.
“It is bigger than any one project, and the Ecosystem is a mechanism that will provide the enduring aspect of Australian Industry Capability that is so often elusive.”
Once operational, the ecosystem is expected to support warfighters through real-time feedback to deter and defeat current and emerging threats.
“By enhancing integration and interoperability across all warfighting domains, the IAMD Ecosystem will improve situational awareness and support rapid decision making on missions throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” AU-NZ Rotary and Missions Systems International Business Development Director Kendell Kuczma said.
Bolstering National Security Through Self-Sufficiency
IAMD includes infrastructure and collaboration tools that enable engineers and operators to solve problems and field innovations faster.
It establishes a secure digital environment for decision-making advantages in tactics, investments, and trade-offs, allowing the Australian Defence Force to “try before buying” new capabilities.
IAMD will also permit Australia to play a vital role in the system’s global supply chain, unifying industry, academia, and the government to develop, improve, and maintain long-term capabilities.
“As one of the leading IAMD companies in Australia, Lockheed Martin has a responsibility to uplift industry and help build the workforce of the future,” McDonald explained.
“By fostering closer collaboration across industry, academia and government we can create a force multiplying effect by bringing the brightest minds from across the nation to bolster national security through sovereign self-sufficiency.”
