On 20 December 2017, NIOA was awarded a $100 million contract by the Commonwealth to supply a suite of advanced 155mm ammunition under the LAND 17-1C.2 Future Artillery Ammunition program. The contract comes shortly after the another contract win late last year in the form of the $95 million Major Munitions Contract.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne made the official announcement at the company's facility in Brisbane today.
“This follows my announcement in November last year where I congratulated NIOA on winning a separate contract worth $95 million to supply more than 30 different munitions over the next five years to the military.
“This ammunition will replace an ageing ammunition stock, providing increased range and lethality, as well as a greater range of effects such as infrared illumination to enhance the Army’s advanced night fighting capability.”
NIOA will supply the modern high performance Rheinmetall Assagai 155mm projectiles, including HE, HE-ER, PRAC, HES, SMOKE, Visual and IR Illumination projectiles, modular charge systems and a range of high performance fuzes from JUNGHANS Defence.
NIOA general manager Government Business Patrick Whitty said the company was delivering an advanced and integrated fleet of 155mm ammunition to the ADF that includes the latest technology and improves upon the ADF's older generation munitions.
“This Assagai family of munitions will deliver extended range, increased accuracy, and greater effect than current in-service munitions.”
The contract includes a program to fully qualify the ammunition family in the BAE Systems M777A2 Lightweight Towed Howitzer, including integration into the AFATDS automated fire-support Command and Control (C2) system, followed by the supply of high performance war stock. It is anticipated that annual training requirements will be added to the contract upon successful completion of the qualification program.
NIOA MD Robert Nioa remarked upon the successful assembly the “best of breed” team in Rheinmetall Defence, their subsidiaries and Junghans Defence, which he attributed to the successful negotiation and award of this contract.
“I commend the outstanding cooperation and support we have received from our international partners and I also commend the Commonwealth on the professional management of this program, with all milestones being successfully delivered to date.
“We now look forward to the challenge of qualification and integration to the M777A2, and successful delivery of this advanced capability to our warfighters.”