Australian + New Zealand Defence Directory 20/21

AUSTRALIAN + NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE DIRECTORY 2020/21 SOVEREIGN INDUSTRY CAPABILITY EDITORIALS www. d e f e n c e . d i r e c t o r y 27 XTEK DEVELOPING A SOVEREIGN INDUSTRY CAPABILITY (SIC) FOR BALLISTIC ARMOUR I n 1975, then Colonel Peter Gration led a group of Army Engineers to Kala Pattar, a 5,545 metre peak overlooking Mount Everest Base Camp. On his return, he set in motion plans for men and women of the Australian Army to share not only this experience, but to push beyond it stating: “I thought we should aspire to climb some of these magnificent Himalayan peaks, and dare we even think of it, one day to tackle Everest itself.” In 1988, after more than 5 years of preparation, an all Australian team of 18 climbers and 11 support staff set off to climb Mount Everest without the support of local Sherpas. It was a risky arduous adventure, but three members of the team made it to the summit and returned home safely. One account of this adventure is “White Sherpas” written by Pat Cullinan SC, OAM. It is a great true story that puts the call out to inspire Australians to tackle big challenges. The story offers inspiration, not only for the achievement but also the trust, endurance and mateship of the journey together. Summiting Everest took the Australian team 5 years to prepare. The team needed new skills, more intelligence and the means and access to capabilities not previously perceived or imag- ined. In a similar way, developing an Australian Defence SIC can be a long road. The develop- ment of truly innovative and significant sovereign industry capabilities is not a walk in the park, it’s like climbing a mountain. In December 2019, the Australian Government released the Sovereign Industry Capability Prior- ity Plan for Combat Clothing Survivability and Signature Reduction Technologies. XTEK Limited was one of many Australian owned SMEs that contributed to the development of this plan. It provides guidance and clear objectives for Government, Defence and Industry on building those capabilities that are a priority and must be accessible in times of need. In 2006 XTEK started on a journey to develop a hydroclave that could be used to consolidate materials better, especially composite materials for ballistic armour. This was the start of another risky and arduous adventure. Several prototype hydroclaves were developed starting from a small vessel the size of a large can of food. A small production plant was established in Adelaide in 2010 and the first commercial production plant was built in 2011 and put into production in 2012. From 2008, XTEK used the small hydroclave to test and develop the manufacture of various composite products, from rifle components through to a range of ballistic Small Arms Protective Insert (SAPI) plates. The R&D proved that a hydroclave offered significant advantages in the consolidation of composite materials at high pressure and temperature, especially those with complex geometry. In 2017, XTEK applied these advantages to the production of ballistic helmets with the support of the US Department of Defence. The XTEK rifle helmet offers the world’s lightest true rifle protection against the 7.62 x 39mm MSC rifle ammunition at full muzzle velocity. Now, in 2020, XTEK has built and commissioned a large capacity hydroclave (“XTclave”) which commenced production in Q1 FY21. This provided XTEK, and more importantly Australia, with the ability to develop and integrate advanced materials and protective element tech- nologies to maintain a warfighting advantage. It makes Australia a global leader in the development of soldier protection systems covering ballistic armour plates and helmets. XTEK has been supported and provided with considerable financial assistance from the Australian Government to commercialise this SIC, through a $1,000,000 grant for the XTclave to produce body army and a $850k grant for development of the production line for XTEK’s rifle helmet. Without this support XTEK could not reach production capacity as quickly as planned. Development of the technology and processes has been significant and important. However, without a marketing and sales strategy/execu- tion plan, access to the potential available market could not be easily addressed. Over the past couple of years, XTEK has worked hard to develop the strategy and plan to access global markets. In the North American market, the largest market in the world for ballistic armour and helmets, XTEK acquired a US company in 2019 called HighCom Armor Solutions Inc. to provide the centre for sales into this market. After several months, this crucial team player is now on the field and kicking goals. XTEK has and continues to develop plans for expansion of sales into Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The first major sales contract for ballistic plates has been made into Finland; and work is well advanced on other initiatives. The XTEK journey to develop this SIC has been a bit like climbing Mt Everest. Along this path, the team faced lots of highs and lows, uncer- tainty, frustrations and needed a big dose of persistence, trust and tenacity. Most importantly a few on the journey shared the belief that it could be done. Philippe Odouard Managing Director XTEK