South Australia's defence industry hits $10 billion output milestone

South Australia's defence industry has reached a landmark $10 billion annual output milestone, cementing the state's position as Australia's foremost defence manufacturing hub and anchoring an industry that employs 15,000 South Australians directly with a further 30,000 in supporting supply chain roles across the state's manufacturing and engineering sectors.

The Australian Submarine Corporation's Osborne facility, currently transitioning from the Collins-class sustainment program to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine construction program, remains the anchor of the cluster. Saab's Australian business, headquartered in Adelaide, has grown its software and electronic warfare capability to the point where it now exports to customers in the United Kingdom and the United States. BAE Systems' Australian operations are designing the Hunter-class frigate from their Edinburgh facility while managing the Anzac-class sustainment program.

Defence SA chief executive Richard Price said the milestone reflected a decade of deliberate investment in workforce capability, supply chain development, and research partnerships with the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. "The defence industry we have today was planned and built — it didn't happen by accident," he said.

For South Australian business generally, the defence cluster has created spillover benefits in precision manufacturing, composites, cybersecurity, and professional services that have made Adelaide a more sophisticated business city than it was two decades ago. The engineering and technology skills developed in defence programs are increasingly portable to clean energy, space, and critical minerals sectors.

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