Partnership to explore advanced defence manufacturing

Penguin Composites Pty Ltd has partnered with the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) to explore hybrid composite materials in defence manufacturing.

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today announced the Tasmanian business had joined an existing DMTC project to enhance platform-independent technologies that can be applied across supply chains including in the land, maritime, aerospace and space sectors.

“The partnership will explore the development of new compounds with unique characteristics that could, as one example, enhance the performance of military vehicles and reduce manufacturing costs,” Minister Pyne said.

“DMTC was delivering the collaboration and focus on innovation that was envisaged in the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement, in this case through exploring the potential of novel material compounds.”

Penguin Composites will join existing DMTC project partners Thales Australia, Imagine Intelligent Materials and research partners from University of Queensland, Swinburne University of Technology, Deakin University and RMIT.

“The involvement of both researchers and industry partners will allow the team to test new configurations and identify the differences in performance compared to conventional materials,” Minister Pyne said.

“With that deeper level of understanding, the team can then turn their attention to challenges in maximising efficiency and developing cost effective manufacturing solutions for these innovative material systems.”

“I’m pleased to see another industry partnership endeavouring to enhance Defence capabilities and boost Australia’s industrial knowledge base and capacity.”