XTEK wins new Defence grant funding
1 February 2023
XTEK Limited announced the group has received two Department of Defence grants totalling $800,000 that will be used to purchase new advanced manufacturing equipment to double production of its unique “rifle rated” Rifle Combat Helmet (RCH), and to accelerate product development and prototyping of its ultra-lightweight and high-performance body armour at its Ballistics Division’s HighCom manufacturing facility in Adelaide, South Australia.
Grant 1 – Defence Global Competitiveness grant valued at $164,268.50
XTEK sought funding from the Defence Global Competitiveness grant program to purchase a new CNC Virtual Machining Centre to replace outdated equipment. The new CAPEX will allow for safer and more complex machining, reducing costs of outsourcing and improved productivity. This will accelerate new product development and prototyping, as well as supporting maintenance and production activities at XTEKs Adelaide site. The project will be completed by 29 October 2023.
Grant 2 – Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grant valued at $658,209.20
XTEK is enhancing its helmet pre-forming and production capacity. The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grant funding will be used to acquire, install, and commission a new custom helmet pre-forming press, resulting in a doubling of the current output at this stage. The project will be completed by 29 May 2024.
Separate to the receipt of these two grants, and in anticipation of the new production capacity that will be achievable going forward in Adelaide, the Group also recently completed works to modify some key elements of its XTclave production equipment and apparatus, which will allow for a significant 60% increase in yield per XTclave helmet cycle.
Scott Basham, XTEK’s Group CEO, said: “XTEK is excited to receive the award of these two important Defence Grants. We are a proud sovereign Australian defence industry manufacturer with a growing global business footprint, and these grants will significantly help us to remain at the forefront of global lightweight and high performance ballistic armour innovation, and importantly to also double the existing production capacity of our unique “rifle rated” Rifle Combat Helmet (RCH), which is now receiving a lot of interest and attention from all around the world. We thank the Department of Defence for their ongoing commitment to advanced sovereign manufacturing.”
XTEK will exceed earlier advice of A$47 million for H1 FY23 when accounts are released in February 2023 and it continues to expect to deliver revenues of more than $82 million, with five months still to run, for the full year.
Source: APDR