The Defence Minister has expanded Australia’s military procurement web. 

The Australian defence industry is poised to gain from a substantial expansion of the Global Supply Chain (GSC) program. 

Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has announced that the number of major defence companies participating in the program would increase from seven to 13, following an “extensive approach to market”.

The participating companies now include Babcock, BAE Systems, Boeing, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Kongsberg, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rheinmetall, SAAB, and Thales. 

This expansion is part of the Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS), which aims to enhance the scale, competitiveness, and sustainability of Australia's defence industrial base.

“Expanding the program will provide Australian businesses with greater access to the broader export markets, and will increase opportunities to integrate into the international supply chains of the GSC Program partners,” Conroy stated. 

He claims that this expansion is crucial for Australia's strategic and national security needs, as highlighted in the DIDS.

The GSC program is designed to help Australian businesses diversify their revenue, achieve economies of scale, and build resilience through export integration into global supply chains. 

Since its inception, the program has facilitated 2,450 contracts worth more than $1.9 billion for 258 Australian suppliers.

The government has also updated the GSC performance framework. 

The new framework aims to promote the scaling and growth of Australian businesses, expand the scope of exports to include both domestic and international projects, identify early opportunities for Australian innovation, and develop performance metrics to assess the success of both the primes and the program.

Conroy said that the government is "proud to be continuing and expanding the GSC program as a way of supporting Australian businesses to grow and in turn create jobs for locals".