Defence and security engagements across the United Kingdom

There has been considerable activity in the defence and security sectors flowing from the AUKUS agreement between Australian, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. This activity has generated great interest from Primes and Small and Medium Enterprises in new investment opportunities in Western Australia. It has also seen considerable interest from the higher education and trainings sectors due to the increased demand for new skills which will come with the AUKUS initiatives. 

This increased activity included  Trade and Investment Manager, Carolyn Gallop being invited to speak at the South Western Regional Defence & Security Cluster event held at the University of Plymouth. This event provided the opportunity to talk to approximately 60 SMEs about the Independent Analysis of Navy’s Surface Combatant Fleet and the related plans for WA; together with likely upcoming opportunities around the Submarine Rotational Force-West currently being stood up at HMAS Stirling.  There was a great deal of interest from the companies attending to find out how to be involved and make connections with the WA SME defence ecosystem.

In early April 2024, four Western Australian companies joined the Team Defence Australia stand at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) Conference/Expo held in London. These companies were; Advanced Navigation, Blue Ocean Tech Systems, Calytrix Training; and Matrix Engineering & Composites.  Advanced Navigation’s autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called ‘Hydrus’ which was displayed on the stand was invented, developed and built in WA and drew a great deal of interest from attendees.  Commodore Guy Holthouse (rtd) led the Australian delegation of about 25 companies in total and each of the companies received significant interest around their offerings.

The AMDA Foundation was also represented on the stand at UDT promoting the Indian Ocean Defence & Security (IODS) Conference/Expo in Perth in July 24-26 this year where all three AUKUS Chiefs of Navy will be speaking.  This gathering will mark the first time the Chiefs of Navy for all three AUKUS nations have been in Australia at the same time.  Registration is now open so if you would like to attend please follow the link below or contact Carolyn Gallop in our offices on carolyn@wago.co.uk.  You can also contact AMDA directly who are organising IODS.

IODS 2024 to host AUKUS navy chiefs in an Australian first | Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024