Australia’s largest Defence maritime event, Indo Pacific, returns to provide industry updates and engagement in 2025.
With a flurry of announcements in the last half of 2024, industry and government are continuing to define the frontline capability and support systems that will underpin Australia’s move to a joint Australian Defence Force (ADF), as laid out in the 2023 Defence Strategic Review.
As one of the world’s largest island nations, it should be no surprise that many of the announcements have a salty tang, regardless of which arm of the ADF will operate the capability. Alongside the headline AUKUS submarine project and Hunter Frigate acquisition, a myriad of other projects are changing the way the ADF will operate in, on and above the sea.
Recent announcements have included:
- The acquisition of eight Landing Craft Heavy vessels, to be built by Austal in Western Australia and operated by Army.
- The first launch of a Tomahawk cruise missile from an Australian Hobart-class destroyer vessel, as part of efforts to equip the Royal Australian Navy with a long-range strike capability.
- A $200 million investment in training infrastructure to grow Australia’s future submariner workforce.
- Anduril Australia’s announcement of an Australian factory to manufacture its Ghost Shark autonomous underwater vehicle for Australia and the region.
- Down-selection of two shipbuilders, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), to progress designs for Australia’s future general-purpose frigates.
- Increased maritime defence exercise participation with regional partners such as India and Japan.
- Successful firing of the Blast Test Vehicle (BTV) from the first Australian-manufactured Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launcher.
- Announcement of a second Army Long Range Fires Regiment, to be equipped with land-based maritime strike missiles (a first for the Australian Army).
In November, industry, government and defence will come together for updates on programs, discussion of challenges and opportunities, and engagement on how Australian industry can provide maritime capability of all kinds for the Australian Defence Force.
The 2025 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, set for Sydney’s International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour from November 4-6, 2025, will host the Royal Australian Navy’s own Sea Power Conference, around 90 maritime conferences, symposia and presentations and more than 800 industry exhibitors from more than 20 nations.
In a packed three-day program, the event will address everything from advances in ship design and maintenance to small-boat operations, helicopters and autonomous air and sea vehicles, and the thousands of technologies that allow Defence to train, operate and support its equipment and personnel at sea and on land.
Held every two years since 2000, Indo Pacific has become Australia’s largest and most effective platform for engagement between industry, government, academia and navy. More than an exhibition, it is a meeting of the international civil and defence maritime community.
Indo Pacific 2023 saw 176 industry, defence and academic delegations from 46 nations, with 48 chiefs of Navy, counterparts or representatives.
In addition to its Sea Power Conference, the Royal Australian Navy uses Indo Pacific as both a recruitment and industry engagement tool.
“What I really like about Indo Pacific 2023 is the opportunity to talk to our industry partners, to introduce them to the men and women of the Royal Australian Navy and to find opportunities to strengthen our Navy’s capability, which ultimately means we’ve got a stronger Navy and a much stronger nation,” said chief of Navy Australia, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, during the 2023 event.
But it’s not all about the Navy. Indo Pacific is also the regular home of the IMC International Maritime Conference, organised by The Royal Institution of Naval Architects, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, and Engineers Australia.
The International Maritime Conference involves delegates in discussion of the latest developments in naval architecture, marine engineering and maritime technology, for both defence and commercial applications. It will cover subjects from maritime safety and environmental protection to cyber security, shipbuilding and sustainment.
For industry, Indo Pacific 2025 is a chance to spend three days surrounded by the key players in the region’s maritime community, and to take advantage of an event crafted to help them promote their products and services.
The combination of Navy, Defence, industry and civil programs attracts and engages personnel at all levels, from chief of Navy and chief executive officers of prime contractors to ministers, government agency personnel, uniformed and civil technical specialists, acquisition program personnel, those who conceive and build today’s cutting-edge technologies, and those who may one day operate them. It has proven the drawcard that brings defence, industry, government and academia together as a community of knowledge-sharing agencies, in the national interest.
The Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition is designed and structured to enable and encourage engagement between participants at all levels, through the industry exhibition, specialist conferences, networking events or through the sheer concentration of the maritime community on one site.
The Indo Pacific region, perhaps more than any other part of the world, is dependent on sea lanes for trade and transport and is home to some of the world’s largest shipbuilding nations and busiest ports.
Perfectly positioned, commercially disciplined and internationally focused, Australia is the ideal conduit for promoting into the dynamic maritime markets of Asia and the Indo Pacific.
For more information see www.indopacificexpo.com.au