Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group. Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous programmes in conjunction with the Australian Defence Force, as well as overseas operators. It specialises in the design and delivery of various systems, products and services for both commercial and defence sectors. Services The company can trace its routes back to the 1890s. It gradually developed its industrial base and grew to become a major indigenous defence specialist, handling the design, manufacture, and through-life support of various defence systems. Accordingly, the firm, previously known as Australian Defence Industries (ADI) has operated numerous long-term contracts with the Australian government and the Australian Defence Forces alike. For many years, ADI was the sole indigenous defence contractor in Australia; however, a rival in the form of Tenix Defence was created as a subsidiary of Tenix Group company in 1997. While at one point Tenix Defence had displaced ADI as the biggest military contractor in the nation, British defence firm BAE Systems completed the acquisition of Tenix Defence during June 2008 in exchange for A$775 million (£373 million). As ADI, the company manufactured various small arms, including the Steyr AUG-based F88 Austeyr assault rifle at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, along with a variety of smokeless powders for reloading rifle, pistol & shotgun cartridges. ADI was also a major producer of Australian armoured vehicles, such as the Bushmaster and Hawkei; it developed region-specific modifications for imported military vehicles as well. The production of the Bushmaster reportedly comprised over a quarter of the firm's export sales during 2009. Throughout much of the company's existence, ADI was based on Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney, it also maintained a R&D/Custom production facility in Brisbane. During 2004, ADI controversially applied to the Australian Equal Opportunities Commission to exclude workers of certain nationalities for security reasons. During October 2006, it was announced that the Australian federal government had permitted the regional conglomerate Transfield Holdings to sell their 50% shareholding in ADI to the Thales Group's Australian holdings, the Australian branch of the French military engineering firm. Accordingly, all ADI operations have been acquired by the company, which is now known as Thales Australia. Thales Australia is perhaps best known for its naval ship repair operations and, , leases the Captain Cook Graving Dock