Gun fix claims shot down

A FIREARMS maker behind the Australian Defence Force’s cherished primary assault rifle will be forced to pay millions in compensation after a court rejected a claim it solved a design issue fault.

Instead the Queensland Court of Appeal has ruled the weapons maker Thales Australia unlawfully came up with a solution for the Austeyr assault rifle after it was given a prototype and blue prints to resolve a firing issue by its original Austrian manufacturer.

It had been alleged the partially French Government owned subsidiary Thales based at its plant in Lithgow NSW, had unlawfully used misleading and deceptive conduct when it used the confidential plans of the Austrian manufacturer and a Queensland family-owned firm NIOA, to fix a problem with the weapon.

The Austeyr assault rifle has been a stock issue for the ADF for decades but a grenade launcher attachment was added below the barrel which then caused an issue with flipping from grenades to bullets.

By the time the Commonwealth formally reported it the weapon’s original Austrian designer Madritsch had come up with a trialled and tested solution.

Through its Australian partner, the Queensland family-owned NIOA arms and munitions firm, it offered the solution to weapon’s Australian maker Thales. But when it came to buying a licensing fee, Thales baulked at the price.

Thales then told the Commonwealth it had solved the issue, while deceptively stalling the other two firms while it finalised its own design.

The Queensland Supreme Court found the peg fix claim unbelievable as well as claims Thales had come up with a solution itself so quickly after being given prototypes, and last week the decision was upheld by the Appeals Court which ordered Thales to pay both firms compensation.