New Production Facility Strengthens Australia's Sovereign Maritime Capability

Thrust Maritime has more than doubled its manufacturing capacity with the completion of a new DAVIT and Launch and Recovery System (LARS) assembly workshop at its Dandenong South headquarters, strengthening Australia's sovereign maritime manufacturing capability and supporting future export growth.

Supported in part through the Australian Government's Defence Industry Development Grant – Export Stream, the expansion establishes a second dedicated production facility and significantly increases the company's capacity to deliver advanced launch and recovery systems for defence and commercial customers worldwide.

The investment marks an important milestone in Thrust Maritime's growth as an Australian manufacturer of complex maritime systems, enhancing its ability to support domestic defence programs, allied customers and emerging export opportunities.

Meeting Growing Demand

Thrust Maritime's original production facility has been operating at or near full capacity as demand for its specialised LARS has continued to grow.

The company's LARS are among the most advanced of their kind, harnessing their unique experience with ultra-high integrity systems (manned vessels/vehicles) in challenging sea conditions. As production increased, the existing facility became a constraint on manufacturing output and limited the company's ability to respond to new export opportunities.

To address this challenge, Thrust Maritime constructed a second, purpose-built manufacturing workshop adjacent to its existing workshop.

Thrust have fitted the new workshop with a 32t overhead gantry crane, with future capacity to lift up to 64t. The increased capacity is expected to improve production efficiency, reduce manufacturing costs and enable the company to produce up to ten LARS systems each year.

Supporting Australia's Sovereign Defence Capability

The expanded facility directly strengthens Australia's sovereign industrial capability in advanced maritime engineering.

Thrust Maritime's LARS are used in some of the world's most demanding underwater operations, including submarine rescue missions where reliability, precision and rapid deployment are critical.

The increased production capacity provided by the new assembly workshop positions Thrust Maritime to support future export opportunities while continuing to deliver complex systems to Australian and allied defence customers.

Partnership Supporting Growth

"This investment represents a significant milestone for Thrust Maritime and demonstrates our commitment to growing Australia's sovereign maritime capability," said Ben Healy, Managing Director, Thrust Maritime.

This expansion has been made possible through the support of the Australian Government's Defence Industry Development Grant - Export Stream, the Australia Submarine Agency and Phoenix International Holdings.

The investment enables Thrust Maritime to continue strengthening Australia's sovereign defence industrial base and supporting AUKUS while building the advanced manufacturing capability required to compete in global markets.

As demand for advanced maritime systems continues to grow, the new LARS Assembly Workshop provides the capacity needed to deliver complex engineering projects more efficiently, support high-value Australian manufacturing jobs and reinforce Thrust Maritime's position as a world-leading developer of advanced launch and recovery systems.

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