March 9, 2018
In October Penguin Composites had a major win for the business and for Tasmanian manufacturing when it signed an three-year, $8m contract with Thales Australia to produce bonnets and other components for the Hawkei protected mobility vehicle. The deal represents the company’s first major defence related contract and it is expected to create around 15 jobs at its factory in the town of Penguin. Christopher Pyne, the Federal Minister for Defence Industry, congratulated Penguin Composites on the contract and said it would provide a significant boost to Tasmania’s share of the nation’s defence investment. “This contract will not only create new jobs in Tasmania, it will also involve the upskilling of existing personnel to help deliver this work,” said Minister Pyne. “This is a textbook example of how Australian small-to-medium enterprises are building their capabilities and contributing to our sovereign defence industry capability.” Thales signed a $1.3bn contract in October 2015 to supply 1,100 Hawkei vehicles and more than 1,000 trailers, and is now ramping up for low-rate production.…