Hunter Defence

joint strike fighter

Hunter Defence is a collaborative task force focused on demonstrating the capability of established Hunter defence industry suppliers to government and primes, as well as upskilling local SMEs to become ‘Defence ready’.

The Hunter already has strong expertise in advanced high-value, high-skills manufacturing and R&D, so there is great potential for locally based firms to diversify into defence or, for those who already established in the industry, to increase their market share.

Who we are

Hunter Defence represents a diverse group of industry stakeholders in the region, including manufacturing and supply firms, industry networks, specialist consultants, advisors and government.

The group is chaired by Tim Owen, a former Air Force Commander and 32-year services veteran with significant expertise in the Australian Defence Force contracting process and experience working with defence primes.

Key stakeholders

How we will make a difference

Hunter Defence provides a strong and unified voice promoting Hunter Defence capability to the NSW and Australian Government. We aim to increase Hunter participation in the defence industry by harnessing the expertise, insight and connections within the group to identify opportunities for the region.

Winning Defence contracts is a competitive business that requires not only capability, but deep industry insight and high visibility with primes, defence stakeholders and government at all levels. Hunter Defence will seek to align local industry capabilities and capacities with coming opportunities and demonstrate the region’s supply chain capability.

We will also encourage more SMEs to acquire advanced defence capability by facilitating education, training and advice.

See an outline of our Strategy and Action Plan.

Key objectives

  • Be a strong and unified voice promoting Hunter Defence capability to primes and the Australian Defence Force.
  • Demonstrate Hunter Region supply chain capability to the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC) and defence primes.
  • Attract Defence contracts to the region.
  • Align local industry capabilities and capacities with coming opportunities.
  • Understand defence opportunities and delivery models and communicate this to regional manufacturers and suppliers.
  • Map regional defence capabilities.
  • Facilitate education and preparedness training to upskill Hunter defence SMEs.
  • Encourage SMEs to acquire advanced defence capability and broaden the region’s product offering.
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