Thales Australia has partnered with Queensland SME, RGM Maintenance (RGM), to help optimise and advance specialised heavy vehicle maintenance and regional access to services and maintenance of Land Materiel for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Building on Thales Australia’s 30 years’ experience delivering the highest levels of availability to the ADF for critical defence capability, the new partnership with RGM will boost the specialised skills, experience and training necessary to optimise land materiel services and maintain the ADF’s current and future heavy vehicle fleets.
Under the new partnership, RGM will provide a highly skilled workforce in regional areas including northern Queensland and Darwin – coupled with Thales’s services footprint covering 38 sites across Australia, the pairing will support an increased availability of maintenance activities closer to, or co-located with, ADF operational bases, reducing the cost of heavy vehicle transport, providing greater value for money through reduced time and cost of maintenance activities, and deliver training that will enhance local expertise and skills in regional Australia.
A familiar and trusted partner of the ADF since 2002, RGM has supported the ADF and Defence industry partners with light, medium, heavy and protected vehicle maintenance along with engineering plant equipment. The new partnership will expand Thales and RGM’s strong 15-year relationship – RGM currently provides Thales with specialised vehicle on-demand maintenance for Bushmaster and Hawkei protected vehicles, as well as supporting surge capacity requirements such as painting and surface preparation for niche maintenance activities including the recent readying of 40 Australian Government donated Bushmasters to Ukraine.
RGM is a significant regional employer in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and in the past 18 months has committed to over $30 million of investment in new state of the art facilities in Mackay, and the development of a new purpose-built facility in Townsville, Northern Queensland. This new Defence Maintenance collaboration between Thales and RGM will expand the skills, reach and availability of critical sovereign land materiel maintenance capability to the ADF across northern Australia in a time when availability and reliability of ADF capability is key to the National Security agenda.
Cam Purdey, Director Defence Maintenance Services, Thales Australia and New Zealand, said: “We are very excited about this new partnership with RGM. This is a clear demonstration of the Thales’s long-term commitment to growing and maintaining an enduring, sustainable and resilient sovereign industrial Defence capability – increasing the skills of the Defence industry workforce, and growing employment opportunities throughout regional Australia.”
Russell Newman, Director RGM Maintenance, said: “RGM is very proud of the relationship we have had with Thales over the last 15years, originally with a contract to support the Bushmaster training fleet and the growth that has led from there. We strive for excellence in maintenance delivery for the ADF. We are a proud North Queensland company employing locals in regional Queensland and the Northern Territory, and a key part of these communities that are motivated to support the ADF’s serving members with quality repair and equipment husbandry is a big part of RGM culture. We feel privileged to be able to offer industry leading sovereign maintenance support that supports our soldiers and helps keep them safe on operations.”
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