For a quarter of a century, Nova Systems has played a role in almost every major complex defence project in Australia. Now, with global uncertainty at heightened levels, the country's biggest privately owned defence company says its role supporting the ADF has never been more vital.

Adelaide

Nova Systems, Australia's largest privately owned defence company, marks its 25th anniversary after its inception in the mid-1990s. Founded by Defence Force veterans Jim Walley and Pete Nikolov, Nova Systems was birthed to address the challenge of finding contractors to support complex defence projects. Over the past quarter-century, Nova has left its mark on almost every significant complex defence project in Australia.

The company has been integral in the development of critical tests and evaluation work for the Navy, Army, and cutting-edge military technologies. Areas of involvement include integrating advanced digital tools and artificial intelligence models to enhance training in military drones. Nova's CEO, Dean Rosenfield, attributes the company's success to a 1,600-strong team known for providing innovative solutions to complex problems in the defence sector.

Board member Julie Cooper notes Nova's expansion beyond Defence, contributing to emergency services with life-saving software and integration solutions in Australia and across Europe. The increasing global uncertainties place a greater emphasis on Nova's role in supporting Australia's Defence Force. According to the company founders, Nova Systems stands as an embodiment of Australian ingenuity, exemplified by rapid innovations such as the historic development of the Boomerang aircraft in 1942.



Leading Australian defence company marks 25th year

When Jim Wally and Pete Nikolov have time to get the toys out of the garage, it's anything that child's play. The two Defence Force veterans, Jim, a former fighter pilot, and Pete, a senior weapons system engineer, met at the Air Force's Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the mid-90s. At the time, Pete and I were working on putting a missile called the ASRAAM onto the F-18 Hornet. And one of the problems we had was finding contractors to support us. And it was then the idea to start what's become Australia's largest privately owned defence company, Nova Systems, was born. Both of us, I think, are very passionate about looking after our mates, like we've got a Defence Force, we want to make sure we've got the best equipment and best trained people in the country. From critical tests and evaluation work on the Navy's latest air warfare destroyers and the Army's boxer reconnaissance vehicles, to designing digital engineering tools and AI models to help train cutting-edge military drones, Nova has been involved in almost every major complex defence project over the past 25 years. It's about trust. Dean Rosenfield is CEO of Nova Systems. He says their success comes down to the ability of the company's 1,600-strong team finding solutions to complex problems. We've only got to look at what's happening in Ukraine to see the effects and the changes in which technology is now adapting the tactics and the techniques that warfighters are using. And with the best and brightest, some of the people we have here at Nova, is how do we actually take those and deliver better effects for our warfighters. It's incredibly important that Australia has companies that are based here. Board member Julie Cooper has been working with Nova here at its Adelaide headquarters since 2017, helping the company's expansion into new markets, including delivering life-saving software and integration solutions for emergency services both here in Australia and across Europe. How exciting it is to have an Australian company being able to contribute at a more complex level. The investments that we've made will come back to roost, I think, in terms of our ability to be a great systems integrator and a great systems innovator into the future. Now, with global uncertainty at heightened levels placing greater pressures on our traditional Alliance partners, the team at Nova say their role in supporting Australia's Defence Force, in particular, has never been more vital. A stronger ADF is a stronger partner to the Alliance. The more that the ADF can support itself and can develop and grow and be even stronger, then that provides more capability to our other partners as well. For founders Jim Walley and Pete Nikolov, while the challenges facing Nova Systems today may have changed from when they first started the company a quarter of a century ago, one thing hasn't. The aircraft you see behind me, the boomerang, first flew in May of 1942. It was less than five months to design and build and so Australians, when called upon, can do some pretty amazing things and that's what we want Nova to be. We've now got experts from the engineering all the way up to our operational areas in the Navy, Air Force and in space systems. We achieve some amazing stuff.

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