Elbit Systems of Australia, a subsidiary of Israeli global conglomerate Elbit, has opened a Melbourne-based Human and Machine Teaming Centre of Excellence in partnership with the Victorian Government.
Elbit Systems of Australia is an innovative technology company providing a range of specialist technology systems and products that use artificial intelligence, sensors, data and networks in the areas of defence and homeland security.
In Australia, the company provides digitisation technologies to the ADF, including interfaces with airborne platforms, naval platforms and unmanned systems, some of which will be adapted and developed through the new Melbourne Centre for potential application in emergency services such as firefighting.
Announcing the partnership, Elbit Systems of Australia Managing Director, Major General (ret’d) Paul McLachlan AO, said the new Centre will work with Victorian universities and research organisations to foster collaboration within the innovation ecosystem, create new products and develop existing research discoveries into licensed products.
“Elbit Systems of Australia has a vision to conduct research and development in partnership with academic institutions to develop highly advanced autonomous solutions that will build home-grown capabilities for our defence force and emergency services,” Mr McLachlan said.
“The devastating bushfires that swept across most of Australia in 2019/20 are still fresh in our minds and Elbit Systems of Australia aims to use the Centre to produce solutions that fuse multiple data and sensor inputs to enhance situational awareness and decision processes.
“Through the Centre of Excellence, we aim to continue to digitise manual processes and systems that currently exist within the emergency services and defence force to deliver a system that will enable users to get the upper-hand faster than ever before. Those improvements could no doubt save time, money, infrastructure, resources, and possibly even save lives.
The company, which currently employs around 250 people across the country, including 80 military veterans, will also collaborate with startups and SMEs to boost the commercialisation success of new discoveries in the fields of autonomous systems, machine vision, robotics, industrial internet of things networks and augmented and virtual reality.
“The research, which has a focus on collaboration between people and autonomous systems, will produce applications that can be used across defence and homeland security, in addition to all emergency services,” Mr McLachlan continued.
“Elbit Systems of Australia has unique access to leading-edge global technology and utilises specialised Australian engineers to transform the products for the Australian market.”
