Australia’s Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare Monday signed a Global Supply Chain Deed with BAE Systems plc.
The Deed was signed on behalf of BAE Systems plc by the new CEO of BAE Systems Australia, David Allott, at Parliament House in Canberra.
The Deed is the first step in helping more Australian companies access BAE’s global supply chain. The next step is to sign annexes to these agreements which give companies access to government funding to hire a team of people to identify and certify Australian companies as part of their global supply chains. BAE Systems plc operates around the world with a significant presence in places like the United Kingdom and United States.
Seven multi-national defense companies have now signed Global Supply Chain deeds with the Australian Government: Boeing [BA], Raytheon [RTN], Thales, Eurocopter (EADS), Lockheed Martin [LMT], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and BAE Systems.
Boeing, Raytheon and Thales currently have the annexes in place.
The government has invested more than $11.3 million in the program over the past three years, Clare said.
“When the program was established, everyone agreed that if it could provide a 10-fold return on the government’s investment it would be a roaring success,” Clare said. “To date, it has delivered more than a 30-fold return on investment with more than ($367.9) million in contracts awarded to Australian industry. Australian SMEs have been the big winners, winning about 90 per cent of the value of these contracts.”