The energy was flying high at Australia’s largest biennial air show in 2023!
After a COVID-19 enforced cancellation in 2021, the AVALON 2023 Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition was back and bigger than ever with record-breaking attendances across the board.
Senior members of the Defence West team were on the ground at AVALON with a delegation of 23 Western Australian Defence Industry small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), showcasing their wares and capabilities to an international audience of senior civil aviation, aerospace, space, defence industry, military and senior government personnel from around the world.
There was a strong Western Australian presence at AVALON with the Hon. Rita Saffioti MLA, Terry Healy MLA, the recently appointed Western Australian Defence Advocate RADM Phillip Spedding DSC AM RAN (Rtd) and the Honourable Kim Beazley AC all in attendance.
The Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation’s Space team was also a co-exhibitor at AVALON, showcasing Western Australia’s diverse space sector capabilities, advantageous geographic and environmental conditions for space infrastructure, as well as the new opportunities being created for WA space companies to participate in domestic and international supply chains.
Highlights for the Space team in the exhibition halls included the significant presences from the Australian Space Agency and Defence Space Command, as well as the diverse cross-sector capabilities across space, aerospace and subsea on display by Australian SMEs, which will support the expansion of Australian sovereign space capabilities.
The JTSI Space team also participated in several key engagements at AVALON, including meetings with the Australian Space Agency, UK Space Agency, the Polish Space Agency and the Canadian High Commission.
The team also had a number of conversations with Japanese space SMEs, and representatives from Australian universities in regards to their space research programs and study courses building Australia’s space workforce.
All in all, it was a highly successful event with the team highlighting the innovative work being done by Western Australian companies in the defence, space and aeronautical industries, as well as the translation capacity our resources sector holds for relevant applications in other sectors.
