PMB Defence – DTC Finalist

PMB Defence is pleased to be announced as a finalist in DTC’s Defence Industry Awards.  The Resilient and Adaptive Award recognises and celebrates an SME (less than 200 employees) that has stood the test of time through the peaks and troughs of Defence expenditure.

PMB Defence was established in 1988 with the specific purpose of manufacturing and supporting battery systems for the Collins Class submarines. For much of our history this remained the focus, however with the emergent Australian Future Submarine (AFS) project the company decided to expand our capability in order to be considered a credible designer and supplier long-term.

PMB recognised that in order to be considered ‘world class’, and therefore an option for the AFS program, we needed to have success overseas; through hard work, determination and resilience, PMB is now involved in substantial reference projects that include:

  • A lithium battery development for Saab-Kockums in Sweden
  • A Nickel-Zinc based battery development for the UK Ministry of Defence
  • Manufacture of lead-acid based systems for multiple countries including the UK, Sweden and Canada
  • A funded (but still competitive) design, development and qualification of a lead-acid based systems for AFS and Naval Group Australia

In the past 10 years PMB have grown from a staff of approximately 60 that serviced one product for one customer in one geography, to in excess of 140, providing multiple products to multiple customers and geographies.  In the last 2 years we have successfully designed, built and moved into a new location adjacent the Osborne Naval Shipyard.  This facility is likely the largest and most modern of its type in the world and has been a key enabler for PMB to target selected Tier 1 export markets and therefore grow our sovereign capability.

We still have much work to do, however our vision remains to be considered the world leader in submarine battery systems.

PMB Defence congratulates other finalists RUAG Australia, APC Technology and AFL Services Pty Ltd.  The winner of the award will be announced at the DTC Annual Defence Industry Dinner & Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 20 October at the Adelaide Convention Centre.