NIOA renews guided weapons pact with L3Harris

Australian-owned defence prime NIOA has signed a strategic agreement with L3Harris Technologies to renew their agreement to explore the manufacture of critical guided weapons components in Australia. The agreement extends the NIOA-L3Harris collaboration – initially announced in 2023 – to establish a sovereign rocket motor and warhead manufacturing capability in Australia and comes in the face of unprecedented global demand for advanced missile components. NIOA Group CEO Rob Nioa said: “Contemporary conflict in the Middle East and in parts of Europe have clearly illustrated the extraordinary consumption rates of guided weapons and interceptor missiles. With the imminent release of the revised and updated National Defence Strategy, NIOA stands ready with our partner L3Harris to move quickly to establish the sovereign production of rocket motors and warheads to support Australia’s defence objectives and supply chain resilience and contribute to allied production demands.” Scott Alexander, President of L3Harris’ Missile Propulsion Sector, said: “In a period of generational expansion of the defence industrial base in the US and rising global demand for the solid rocket motors and propulsion systems that power critical defence programs, L3Harris is pleased to renew and extend this teaming agreement with NIOA. We look forward to collectively delivering a substantial increase for solid rocket motors and warhead production between the US and Australian defence industrial bases.” The NIOA-L3Harris partnership aligns with Defence’s goal in the Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS) and AUD $21b Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Plan to stand up a sovereign manufacturing capability by 2030. The US Department of Defense recently announced a US$1 billion investment in L3Harris in a landmark direct-to-supplier partnership to expand the production of solid rocket motors (SRM) that power the world’s most advanced missiles. L3Harris manufactures solid rocket motors and warheads for Tomahawk Cruise Missiles and Standard Missile, munitions for which Australia placed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) orders totalling more than A$8 billion in 2024. L3Harris also manufactures a range of propulsion systems for missile defence interceptors, tactical and air defence programs such as PAC- 3 MSE, Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), Javelin, Stinger, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) and NULKA. Innovaero and NIOA partner on  loitering munitions NIOA Group CEO Rob Nioa and Innovaero Managing Director Mike von Bertouch, pictured at last year’s Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney. The two companies have announced a partnership to produce warheads and launch systems for loitering munitions. Innovaero and NIOA have announced an all-Australian partnership to cooperate on the development and manufacture of a range of modular warheads and launch systems for loitering munitions. The two Australian-owned and operated companies say their strategic collaboration to design, test and manufacture warheads, launch boosters, and tube launched systems will build sovereign capability, strengthen national resilience and create advanced manufacturing jobs across multiple states. “Building sovereign capability is central to our strategy,” said Mike von Bertouch, Managing Director of Innovaero. “Together with NIOA, we will transfer advanced know-how, create high-value local jobs, and strengthen Australia’s security supply chain.” NIOA Group CEO Rob Nioa said: “Innovaero has been a fantastic success story in building sovereign capability. “Combining Innovaero’s systems engineering and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) design expertise with NIOA’s energetic materials design and manufacturing capabilities will give Australia a unique opportunity to onshore key technologies safely and responsibly and improve long-range strike options for the ADF and our allies and partners such as the New Zealand Defence Force.” The Innovaero-NIOA partnership reflects the immediacy of lessons learned from contemporary global conflicts, and the impactful role of cost effective, mass-produced armed drones that can be manufactured from a sovereign industrial base. The partnership will deliver cost-effective precision loitering munitions to strengthen the ADF’s strike capabilities, and both the reach and lethality of deployed forces. The program will proceed through staged design, qualification and production readiness phases under full Australian control and in compliance with Defence export-control and safety frameworks. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]