- This Queensland company has evolved from a small regional ammunition retailer to Australia’s largest privately owned firearms and munitions supplier. It is still the major supplier of guns and bullets to Australian and New Zealand police. Now it is starting to play a bigger role in the global supply chain thanks to support from Defence Exports Strategy, and partnerships with big players like Rheinmetal, Winchester and others. Nioa recently took over US company Barrett Firearms, making them a direct exporter of sniper rifles to both Israel and Indonesia
- NIOA continues to exercise political influence through the board of SIFA (Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia), and through familial ties. NIOA CEO Robert Nioa is also the son-in-law of federal member for Kennedy Bob Katter. NIOA has donated at least $160,000 to Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), and $20,000 to the Liberal Democrats. It’s political influence is evident in it’s board of directors and formation of new global partnerships.
- CEO Robert NIOA is ramping up his active political role, spruiking the need for his product. e.g. in a keynote address to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)“State of National Security” event in Magandjin (Brisbane) in February. The Aukus arrangements have been a perfect opportunity for NIOA to expand in the UK and US.
“NIOA Group CEO Robert Nioa has called for swift and decisive action on bolstering Australia’s defence industry to support an allied military force capable of fortifying the Indo-Pacific region . . . America remains the world’s arsenal of democracy and America is stirring,“If we can get this right, it will mean we will no longer be hampered by some of the detailed and slow administrative work needed now to get technical information from US firms . . . If the government money flowed, Mr Nioa said industry was ready to step up pointing to the recently released Sovereign Australian Prime Alliance report which outlines a detailed plan to mobilise defence manufacturing”.
- NIOA describes itself as
“a privately-owned global munitions company. Established in Queensland, Australia in 1973, today the NIOA Group has strategic locations around the world. We are dedicated to the best practice supply and manufacture of firearms, weapons and munitions to Australian and allied nation defence forces, law enforcement agencies and commercial markets”.
NIOA Australia’s revenue:
$48.1M – NIOA going great guns apparently?
“The LAND 159 Lethality Systems Program remains critical to our partnership with the Commonwealth as we commence the delivery of Tranche 1 weapon systems in 2023,” he said. “Similarly, we expect the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) to deliver some key recommendations for the ADF’s munitions base and our tenancy at the Benalla munitions facility is likely to be a key feature of generating greater supply chain surety and sovereign munitions manufacturing capability.”
https://www.nioa.com.au/latest-news/back-in-the-top-40-with-a-bullet
NIO Group Partnerships and Projects
“NIOA prides itself on establishing trusted, professional relationships to deliver Defence projects including the future family of 155mm artillery munitions, flexible and diverse contracts such as the Major Munitions Contract (MMC) and the Weapons Fleet Sustainment contract in support of the Armaments Systems Program Office (ARMTSPO) of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG). In 2020, NIOA was appointed Prime Contractor for Stage 1, Tranche 1 of Project Land 159 Lethality Systems Program, a multi-year program designed to acquire or replace up to 25 Australian Defence Force weapon systems”.
https://defence.nioa.com.au/projects
- NIOA group includes NIOA Australia, NIOA New Zealand, the Australian Missile Corporation, NIOA Inc [USA], Barrett Firearms [USA], NIOA UK and joint venture company Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions.
- The NIOA UK office opened this year, will serve as a hub for NIOA to work more closely with existing British industry partners while also exploring emerging munitions manufacturing and military supply opportunities as party of the trilateral AUKUS security pact.
- NIOA group has a distribution network covering 75 US State department approved countries.
- NIOA is a major tenant at the Australian government owned, contractor operated (GOCO) munitions facility at Benalla in Victoria where it is currently manufacturing 120mm munitions for the Abrams tank along with 30mm and 35mm cannon ammunition.
- The company is a joint venture partner with Rheinmetall of Germany in the Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions 155mm artillery forging facility in Maryborough, Queensland, delivering key munitions for allied nations. 155mm projectile in Australia. ‘‘As the ongoing conflict in Ukraine demonstrates, the ability to produce your own munitions is critical for any nation. Artillery projectiles are among the highest use munitions in the Ukrainian conflict”.
- NIOA has a strategic agreement with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a L3Harris Technologies company, to explore the manufacturing of key munitions and components within Australia’s sovereign guided weapons enterprise.
- Has been selected as an enterprise partner with the Australian Missile Corporation (which funnily enough has exactly the same advisory board as NIOA) to establish a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing industry.
- International expansion continues with the opening of an office last month at the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey and the 2023 acquisition of Barrett Firearms in Tennessee, which produces the only shoulder-fired 50-caliber gun, the primary anti-personnel sniper rifle used by the U.S. Army and Special Operations Command.
https://www.nioa.com.au/latest-news
NIOA is fully involved in supporting genocide
In Australia
NIOA is the majority supplier of guns and bullets to Australian police. Since 2012 NIOA has supplied Australian and New Zealand police with 70,000 Glock pistols, NIOA also supplies 70 per cent of ammunition to Australian police. According to their website, by 2022 the company had supplied “Over one billion rounds have been supplied by NIOA to the Australian Law Enforcement, Military and Sporting markets”.
in Palestine:
- In early 2023, NIOA acquired Tennessee-based Barrett Firearms. Barrett is the IDF’s long-term manufacturer of choice for sniper rifles.
- Ferdi Kluever, the NIOA general manager business development will be speaking at DLF on “Realising the Defence Industry Development Strategy for ADF Munitions”, in a further demonstration of Labor’s support for companies complicit in the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
- https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/06/12/israeli-sniper-rifles-australian-government-backed-expo/
- Medium calibre ammunition made to be exported to the US for the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program
- 155mm shells produced out of Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions artillery shell plant in Maryborough QLD were exported to Germany. German is providing munitions for the US/German war fighting arenas in the middle east and Ukraine. the 155mm are in high demand. The Germans provide 155s for Ukraine freeing up the US to provide for Israel.
NIOA Group Advisory Board.
- Christopher Pyne (Chairman) – former Australian Defence Minister, the minister in 2018, when the Defence Exports Strategy was announced. (30 billion/year to Weapons Corporations to build export trade).
- Ellen Lord – former US Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment,
- David Feeney, – former Australian Government MP, Senator for Victoria and past Parliamentary Secretary of Defence
- Mark Donaldson VC – former Australian Army soldier
- Dr Ken Anderson, former Chief of the Aerospace Division in the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG)
- Dan Olson – former Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman’s Weapon Systems Division.
Andrew Crickenberger – Chief Growth Officer
- The appointment of leading international defence industry executive Andrew Crickenberger on the 4th July, surely a high point in Australia’s finessing of it’s role as a sub imperial power. Crickenberger, formerly Vice President of Strategy for L3Harris Technologies’ Aerojet Rocketdyne Segment, joins NIOA as Chief Growth Officer. United States-based Mr Crickenberger, was previously VP Strategy and Business Development for the Missile Products business unit of Northrop Grumman for 25 years. He “will spearhead the NIOA Group’s efforts to capitalise on emerging opportunities in the global allied guided weapons and munitions sector” .