Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has announced the award of five innovation contracts aimed at boosting the capabilities of the Australian defence industry.
Defence contractor L3 Oceania, formerly known as Nautronix, has secured $2.9 million in funding to explore the development an underwater acoustic sensor that could provide significant benefits within the ADF maritime domain.
The University of Newcastle has received $2.2 million to explore the development of enhanced resilience training for ADF personnel through a set of virtual reality based training sessions involving controlled exposure to adverse environments.
$378,000 in funding has been awarded to Melbourne-based Agent Oriented Software, which will use the money to explore the concept of an autonomous teamed intelligent software agent capability resilient to cyber-attacks.
Queensland’s Explosive Protective Equipment has won $242,000 to explore the integration of a Cobham Amulet Ground Penetrating Radar into an existing unmanned ground vehicle for detection of improvised explosive devices.
The Griffith University has also secured $183,000 in funding which will be directed towards the development of a portable device that enables real-time detection of airborne biological threats, such as fungi spores, viruses and bacteria.
All of the contracts were awarded through the Defence Innovation Hub, a 10 year innovation program established to promote defence industry competitiveness and connect defence capability with innovation.
“These investments will drive growth in defence industry and innovation whilst focusing on the capability needs required to ensure Australia’s national security now and into the future,” Minister Pyne said.
