Thales, EXPAL to Supply Naval Munitions for Australia

Thales Australia and EXPAL Systems S.A. (EXPAL) recently signed an agreement to deliver large caliber naval munitions and fuzes for the Australian Defence Force.

The agreement was signed June 29. The new agreement will facilitate the technology transfer to Australia of Intellectual Property and support the development of new manufacturing processes that will enable the local production of critical munitions including, 5” Charge Propelling (CP) and high explosives projectiles, as well as advanced fuze solutions, Thales said in a release today.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) currently utilises 5” naval munitions that are manufactured and supplied separately by both EXPAL in Spain, and Thales in Australia. This new agreement between Expal and Thales will not only provide the RAN greater ‘on demand’, localised access to leading EXPAL-Thales 5” technology, it will also provide greater surety of supply for critical 5” munitions capability.

Expal and Thales have also agreed to an extensive research and development program, providing a roadmap to the Australian Defence Force for 5” munition technology enhancement on current and future RAN platforms including, munitions offering longer range, reduced sensitivity and precision strike capability.