In April, Hyperion Systems travelled to National Harbor, Maryland, to participate in Sea-Air-Space 2026 as part of the Team Defence Australia pavilion which is one of the world's largest maritime and defence conferences.
The pavilion brought together close to 100 Australian companies presenting advanced capability to international maritime and defence stakeholders. For Hyperion, the event provided direct access to organisations considering future manufacturing, sustainment, and supply chain requirements at a global level.
A Clear Theme Emerged
Across the conference, one message came through consistently: shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing needs to become faster, more flexible, and more distributed. Traditional fixed-site production models which are constrained by long tooling cycles, freight delays, and limited capacity to respond quickly are increasingly at odds with the pace that modern defence requirements demand.
This aligned closely with what Hyperion has been building. The company's large-format additive manufacturing capability is designed precisely for high-cost, long-lead-time environments where production speed, logistics resilience, and local manufacturing capacity are operational priorities, producing large, complex components faster and closer to where they are needed.
Engagement on the Ground
During the event, Hyperion engaged with leading maritime and defence companies and met with defence industry representatives including former Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne. Discussions centred on how distributed manufacturing models could support future maritime and defence requirements.
Positioning WA on the International Stage
Participation in Sea-Air-Space through Team Defence Australia gave Hyperion a direct opportunity to place Western Australian advanced manufacturing capability in front of international defence and maritime markets — markets that are increasingly looking for exactly the kind of on-demand, deployable production model Hyperion is building. Those conversations are continuing as we explore how distributed manufacturing can support future maritime and defence requirements.
