Australian seatbelts for US Military vehicles

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today congratulated APV Safety Products on being awarded a contract to supply seat belt harnesses for the US Marine Corps.

Minister Pyne said the contract to supply 1,000 seat belt harnesses to ArmorWorks Enterprises, Inc. built on APV’s existing success in the North American market.

“APV’s Australian-designed and manufactured harnesses integrate into blast-absorbing seating to offer the highest levels of survivability and safety,” Minister Pyne said.

“This success is yet another win for Australia’s defence industry, and demonstrates the innovation and global competitiveness of our small to medium enterprises.”

“APV formerly supplied the Australian car industry, and so this is a great example of an automotive business diversifying into other industries and it is exciting to see an Australia company playing a key role in keeping Australian and US troops safe in front line combat vehicles."

“I will soon release a Defence Export Strategy to build upon these successes and provide a comprehensive plan to further grow our defence industry.”

APV’s access to North American defence supply chains has been facilitated by their participation in the Centre for Defence Industry Capability managed Global Supply Chain (GSC) program.

Minister Pyne said GSC provided opportunities for Australian small-to-medium sized companies to compete for work in the supply chains of international defence prime contractors.

“To date, the participating GSC primes have awarded close to $1 billion of work to predominantly small-to-medium sized enterprises in Australia.”

“This work has been won on merit, highlighting the strength and innovative capabilities of Australian companies,” Minister Pyne said.

For further information on the GSC program, contact the CDIC on 13 28 46 or at CDIC_Exports@industry.gov.au