Trans-Tasman newspaper specialist Horton will print, package and label Army News, Navy News and Air Force News for the next three years, said a Department of Defence spokesperson.

The newspapers have a combined run of 45,000 copies and are published 23 times per year. Army News is a 36pp publication, while the others are 28pp, the spokesperson told ProPrint.

Horton Media was one of six firms to tender for the job, said the spokesperson.

Chief executive Matthew Horton said the Defence win was second time lucky for Horton Media, which made a failed tender for the job in 2009.

[Related: Horton Media wins Qld publisher contract]

"When you win a big job from a large and established competitor with a blue-chip client like Defence, you've made it," he told ProPrint.

"One of the things that was instrumental in us winning was we had made [a $250,000] investment in a polywrapping and inserting line 12 months before.

"The reality is we're dedicated commercial printers in the coldset field. We're not a publisher that does a bit on the side. All our investments… are designed specifically to suit those jobs and do them in an optimal way."

Horton said the job would be printed at the Brisbane factory on a four-tower Goss Community press, which can produce 35,000 copies per hour.

The newspapers are distributed by Toll Priority and Australia Post to Defence bases throughout Australia and to personnel deployed overseas.

[Related: More news about contract wins]

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter