Seeks Substantial Increase in Sovereign Industrial Capability
Airbus has announced the formation Team Maier and will partner with key Australian space and technology companies, and academia, as it launches its solution for Joint Project (JP) 9102 to provide a complete Defence Satellite Communications (SATCOM) System. Airbus is looking to substantially increase sovereign industrial space and defence capability in Australia through its bid to deliver sovereign military SATCOM capability for Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region.
Access to space is critical to Australia’s security and the government is enhancing its investment in space capabilities across the spectrum. Team Maier will bring Australian expertise and capabilities to the forefront of the Airbus solution, developing workshare and export opportunities for SMEs, job creation, technology transfer and innovation.
“We have always recognised the expertise and capabilities that Australian companies and academia can bring to our business, and how important synergies can be achieved. Reinforcing our long-standing commitment to the Commonwealth of Australia, our new Team Maier brings in partners to enable the Australian Defence Force to achieve its strategic objectives of ‘shape, deter, and respond’ across the Indo-Pacific region,” commented Andrew Mathewson, Airbus Head of Country – Australia and New Zealand. “Airbus has injected more than A$950 million [€575 million] of activities into the Australian aerospace industry over the last three years, for civil and military fixed-wing and rotary wing aircraft, generating economic benefits of over A$1.7 billion for Australia. We are now looking to build on that with space.”
In 2016 Airbus invested in a brand-new purpose-built satellite ground station in Adelaide, to land SKYNET secure military satellite communications. This key ground station in Australia extended its existing chain of teleports in France, Germany, Norway, the UK and the USA, providing global coverage in both fixed and mobile satellite services. This worldwide teleport network provides global coverage for connectivity services by providing the link between the satellite constellation and terrestrial networks for reliable end-to-end connectivity at the highest service level.
Airbus has over five decades of presence in Australia, across the country’s defence, helicopter and commercial aircraft segments. The company has directly invested more than A$100 million into the ARH TIGER and MRH90 projects. With a strong local team of more than 1,500 employees working across 21 sites for civil and military fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, Airbus is committed to long-term collaborative relationships that will deliver real results for Australia’s defence industry capabilities, create local jobs and technology upskilling.
