Babcock Australasia makes move into military aviation

“Last year, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy listed maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade of Australian Defence Force aircraft as one of seven Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities,” said Babcock Australasia CEO Andrew Cridland.

“Our shift into the military aviation space couldn’t be better timed to support this endeavour.

“The combination of our existing defence experience, understanding and partnerships, and our decades of delivery and maintenance of aircraft in high tempo, high-reliability envelopments, has us well positioned to support technical innovation and operational excellence across military applications, including maintaining the highest standards of safety and performance.”

Babcock says it is now pursuing opportunities in the rotary, fixed-wing and UAS spaces, including providing operational support, training, in service support and maintenance, repair and overhaul.

“To support these activities, Babcock is investing in the R&D of cutting-edge aircraft systems, UAV and advanced avionics, and seeking out industry and OEM partners to create solutions that address the specific operational needs of Defence,” the firm said.

“Babcock’s existing aviation capabilities in region provide a strong foundation for this expansion, where it continues to make major investments in aircraft, infrastructure and training.”

VIEW ALL

>

Babcock Australasia’s managing director for aviation and critical services, Duncan Milne, said defence aviation is a “a natural evolution of [Babcock’s] capability in the region”.

“Babcock recognises the critical need for reliable and sophisticated, yet cost-effective solutions that can support a range of missions, from logistics to training, to surveillance, to search and rescue operations in diverse environments,” he said.

“One thing we do incredibly well at Babcock is collaboration; pulling together credible teams that can value-add. We are actively seeking partners for our latest ventures that can bring innovation, capability and scale to service delivery.

“The strong contingent of Army veterans within our aviation team – including Conspicuous Service Cross recipient Susana Fernandez – who understand customer requirements, also gives us extant capability out of the gate.”