The visitors were shown the current manufacturing facility, which has been in operation since 1912, and the recently unveiled Bespoke Innovation Shed as plans for the future were discussed.

In a statement, Thales said the company's vision for Lithgow included "creating a precinct to develop and manufacture the next generation soldier weapons systems of the future Australian Defence Force".

Thales Australia vice president strategy Gary Dawson said the tour was an opportunity to show some of the concepts for the factory, which has been at the heart of defence manufacturing in Australia for a hundred years, to be taken into the future.

"This has been the place where small arms have been manufactured for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for over a century," he said.

Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said Thales Australia was seeking to build on this distinguished heritage to create the 'Sovereign Industrial Capability Precinct' in Lithgow.

"This precinct will position Lithgow at the forefront of more than $2 billion of domestic and significant export opportunities in the next ten years," he said. 

“Lithgow has been the home of small arms manufacturing for over a century, and Thales is seeking strong support from the government to secure its future both for the next generation soldier weapons systems and the skilled workforce behind the defence force.”

Some of the items needed for production for the ADF include 3D printing, advanced electronics and advanced optics and targeting systems.

"We will also quite possibly see advanced bio-metric security devices built into the weapons," Mr Dawson said.

Mr Dawson said the plan for the future brought in the exciting new digital technologies combined with traditional manufacturing.

"It's really all about delivering advanced capability to the ADF, a capability of advantages well into the future and it's exciting to be able to do it here in Lithgow which has incredible history and heritage in sovereign industrial capability for Australia," he said.

Mr Dawson also said it was incredible to see the advances that had been made in the last hundred years on site which was reflected in the weapons produced there.

"There's already been a major investment in the production line here, and now the challenge we face is testing these new concepts and seeing how we can scale them up into a full scale production facility," he said.

Despite the challenge Mr Dawson said he felt confident Thales could do that and to also stay relevant in the international scheme.

"It's critically important to stay relevant because the ADF needs a capability advantage that's what they're always looking for and that's our number one priority.

"It's the key driver for us, we've been doing it here for a hundred years and we're mapping out plans to keep doing that for decades to come," he said.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro said the opportunity to tour the site was exciting to see first hand what happens and confirmed the NSW Government was supportive of a strong defence industry in NSW.

"It's exciting to build diversity and the type of industry we have in the regions and that's why I'm here today and looking forward to seeing how the government can support this," he said.

Read more:

He also said Thales showed the company was thinking about not just tomorrow but for the decades ahead.

"You can clearly see manufacturing is changing, the skill sets required for the future will change, the demands are going to change and we also want to be at the heart of those leading industries that will bring great jobs to regional NSW," he said.

With Thales's plans to secure the future for next generation soldier weapons systems they also aim to employ a skilled workforce behind the defence force.

Mr Dawson said the future of Lithgow Arms was an exciting project for local jobs and skills development in Lithgow.

Also supporting employment opportunities was Bathurst MP Paul Toole who said he was "pretty excited about Thales's vision and their plan for the area, bringing more jobs to Lithgow."

"Thales has been employing hundreds of people and supporting the local Lithgow economy for years and now they've got big plans," he said.

“I look forward to seeing the full plans and business case, with a view to considering how the NSW Government can best support Thales in taking this precinct to a new level in defence systems manufacturing," he said.

After the behind the scenes tour of Lithgow Arms Mr Dawson said he was pleased with the great support and discussions would continue with Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Paul Toole.

"They are both very interested in the defence industry, very keen. So we will continue to firm the plans up for the future,' he said.

He also said he would like to see plans for production as soon as possible.

"We're not waiting around, we're working on it now, ready to go when the contracts and timetables come in from ADF and the Commonwealth.

"The opportunities here are quite extraordinary really, billions of dollars in opportunity in terms of production out of this site and some of those decisions will start to be made next year," he said.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Lithgow Mercury. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.