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A local veteran owned company has been selected by Defence to sustain and support the country’s first deployable weapons technical intelligence laboratories, under a $30 million agreement.
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According to Defence, the deployable laboratories are a shipping container design, enabling the country’s warfighters to undertake explosive hazardous material and forensic analysis in the field.
Part of the LAND 154 Phase 2 - Weapons Technical Intelligence capability program, Defence has selected Zangold, trading as EPE, to deliver essential services to maintain the nation’s first deployable testing laboratory.
It is hoped that the new facilities will enable the Australian Defence Force to gain deeper understanding of explosive devices that have been deployed in threat environments, providing timely and accurate operational intelligence.
Assistant Secretary of Electromagnetic Warfare and Intelligence Systems Alex Rothwell explained that the laboratories are a safe environment for Australia’s warfighters to undertake essential battlefield analysis.
“This level of support demonstrates a new level of collaboration between Defence and industry in supporting this advanced and complex capability,” Rothwell said.
A spokesperson for EPE explained that the company’s veteran workforce possess unique skillsets to support the project.
“The distinct skillsets of our military veteran team allows EPE to bring a unique combination of weapons technical intelligence experts, project management expertise, and specialist maintenance technicians to support this key capability, ensure its longevity, and boost Australia’s security and its interoperability with our allies,” EPE’s WTI project director, Keith Mollison, said.
The announcement comes shortly after an EPE and Lunar Outpost-led consortium was selected for ASA’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative.
The consortium, led by EPE alongside US-based Lunar Outpost, announced that it had received funding under the Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative for the design of autonomous lunar mobility and excavation solutions.
At a ceremony attended by the Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science, on the 20th of March, the Stage 1 funding through the Australian Space Agency will support the consortium design and develop a lunar rover to collect lunar regolith for transport to a NASA science in-situ resource utilisation facility.
Lunar Outpost confirmed that it would establish a Melbourne office to support the mission and Australia’s space industry, which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary leveraging the company’s space-robotics expertise.
Lunar Outpost hopes that growing the Australian space industry will stimulate growth in Australia’s primary industries, mature Australia’s scientific advancements, create new bilateral and multilateral public-private partnership opportunities, and stimulate the use of space assets in humanitarian missions.
Under the partnership, it is expected that the consortium will leverage Lunar Outpost’s pedigree in cislunar mobility expertise with EPE’s background in creating uncrewed ground vehicles and autonomous systems.
