| Industry | Firearms, Defence, Law Enforcement, Sporting & Outdoors |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder | Bill Nioa |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Key people |
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| Products | Firearms, ammunition, optics and accessories |
| Owner | Robert Nioa |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | www |
NIOA is an Australian armament and munitions company, headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Nioa family, it is a privately held company which is a supplier of arms and ammunition to the sporting, law enforcement and military markets. [1] [2] [3] Its founder and CEO, Robert Nioa, is the son-in-law of Australian federal politician Bob Katter. [4]
NIOA was involved with importing Adler shotguns into Australia during the 2010s. [5] [6]
On 28 July 2016, NIOA was awarded a contract to supply 40 mm automatic grenade launchers to the Australian Army. [7]
On 15 November 2017, NIOA was selected by the New Zealand Defence Force to supply weapons. [8] On 5 December 2017, NIOA signed a contract with the Australian Department of Defence to supply the Australian Defence Force with multiple types of ammunition. [9]
On 23 January 2018, NIOA was awarded a contract by the Australian Army to supply 155 mm artillery ammunitions. [10] [11]
On 1 November 2019, former Australian politician David Feeney was appointed to the advisory board of NIOA. [12]
On 29 June 2020, NIOA agreed to enter into a joint tenancy, alongside Thales Australia, of the government-owned munitions factory in Benalla. [13] On 9 December 2020, NIOA entered into an agreement with Olin Corporation to supply the Australian Defence Force with small arms ammunition. [14] [15]
On 3 June 2021, NIOA partnered with Black Sky Aerospace and Quickstep in their bid under the Australian Missile Corporation for the Australian Government's sovereign guided missiles project. [16]
On 17 January 2023, NIOA acquired full ownership of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, an American rifle manufacturer. [17]
Plunging fire is a form of indirect fire, where gunfire is fired at a trajectory to make it fall on its target from above. It is normal at the high trajectories used to attain long range, and can be used deliberately to attack a target not susceptible to direct or grazing fire due to not being in direct line of sight.
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is an Australian-owned, American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition located in Christiana, Tennessee. It was founded in 1982 by Ronnie G. Barrett for the purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the .50 BMG ammunition, originally developed for and used in M2 Browning machine guns. Barrett began this work in the early 1980s, and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett personally designed every part of the weapon. He marketed the weapon and mass-produced it utilizing private funds. He continued to develop the rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986. Barrett was acquired by the NIOA Group on 17 January 2023, solidifying the long-standing relationship between the two companies.
Thales Australia is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group.
The Mk 47 or Striker 40 is a 40mm automatic grenade launcher with an integrated fire control system, capable of launching smart programmable 40mm air burst grenades in addition to various unguided rounds.
The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built four-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The Bushmaster was primarily designed by the then government-owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), and is currently produced by Thales Australia following their acquisition of ADI. The Bushmaster is currently in service with the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Netherlands Army, British Army, Japan Ground Self Defense Force, Indonesian Army, Fiji Infantry Regiment, Jamaica Defence Force, New Zealand Army and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The 5th Aviation Regiment is an Australian Army aviation unit. Formed in 1987 after the Army took over responsibility for operating helicopters from the Royal Australian Air Force, the regiment is based at RAAF Base Townsville, in Queensland. It currently forms part of the 16th (Aviation) Brigade and it operates the majority of the Army's transport helicopters. Throughout its existence, the regiment has been deployed overseas numerous times, supporting both peacekeeping and warlike operations. Since its formation elements of the regiment have made operational deployments to Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Iraq, Indonesia and Pakistan.
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills is a tri-service munitions storage base of particular importance to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Located in Orchard Hills, in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the main role of the establishment is for storage, maintenance and distribution of Explosive Ordnance such as Bombs, Bullets, Missiles, and other military explosives. The base is also home to the RAAF-run Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School, which provides training in handling explosives to all branches of the Australian Defence Force, public servants and contractor personnel.
Hughes AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder weapon locating system is a mobile radar system developed in the mid-late 1970s by Hughes Aircraft Company and manufactured by Northrop Grumman and ThalesRaytheonSystems, achieving initial operational capability in May 1982. The system is a "weapon-locating radar", designed to detect and track incoming mortar, artillery and rocket fire to determine the point of origin for counter-battery fire. It is currently in service at battalion and higher levels in the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, Australian Army, Portuguese Army, Turkish Army, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
BAE Systems Australia is one of the largest defence contractors in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holdings in 2007 and Tenix Defence in June 2008. It is a subsidiary of BAE Systems.
The 2R2M is a vehicle-mounted, rifled 120 mm heavy mortar produced by Thales of France. It is derived from the MO-120-RT towed mortar. The 2R2M is in service with 5 nations.
Exercise Talisman Sabre is a biennial, multinational military exercise led by Australia and the United States. Talisman Sabre involves joint exercises performed by the Australian Defence Force and the United States Military across six locations in northern and central Australia, the Coral Sea, and in Honolulu, Denver, and Suffolk, Va., though the bulk of the exercises are concentrated at the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area and other locations in northern and central Australia and Australia's territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.
The F1 grenade is manufactured by Thales Australia exclusively for the Australian Defence Force as a primary defensive anti-personnel hand grenade.
The Hawkei is an Australian light four-wheel-drive protected mobility vehicle. Originally designed in 2010 to meet an Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirement for a light armoured patrol vehicle to replace some of its Land Rover Perentie variants. The Hawkei is a highly mobile, highly protected, 7-tonne vehicle, with inbuilt systems to allow it to be used as a fighting platform. It has been developed with Vehicle Electronic Architecture to be mission system ready.
Munitions India Limited (MIL) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Pune, India, established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. Munitions India primarily manufactures ammunition, explosives, rockets and bombs for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
Brigadier Ian Douglas Langford, is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting. Langford was the Director General Future Land Capability for the Australian Army from 2018 until 2022; and previous to that was the acting head of Land Capability. He served as commanding officer of 2nd Commando, in which role he led combat operations in Timor Leste, Afghanistan, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and the South-West Pacific; with command of Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. For his service, Langford was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on three occasions – the only person to date to receive that honour.
The Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) is an Australian company specialising in guided and non-guided weapon systems, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Queensland-based Defence Prime Contractor NIOA. It was contracted by the Australian Government as Enterprise Partner to help enable the development of Australia's domestic guided and non-guided weapons capability. Its inaugural and current chief executive officer, Lee Goddard, is a retired Rear Admiral of the Royal Australian Navy.
The Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Review was a 2024 independent review of the surface fleet of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), that was authorised as a result of the larger Defence Strategic Review. It considered and recommended actions the RAN needed to take to solidify Australia's war-fighting capabilities on the maritime front. The review aims to counteract China and 'Chinese coercion' in the region. It was announced by Deputy-Prime Minister Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy on 20 February 2024.
