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Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has unveiled the latest tranche of Defence Innovation Hub contracts, with three of the five projects to take place in the ACT.
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The five contracts – awarded to BAE Systems Australia, Zangold of Queensland, Nova Defence, Kul Technologies of Victoria, and Data61 – are worth $5.3 million.
BAE Systems received the largest contract, totalling $2.3 million, to explore the potential use of laser technology to detect low intensity signals. BAE Systems Australia is the first defence prime to be awarded a contract by the Defence Innovation Hub since it was launched in December 2016 as part of the Defence Industry Policy Statement.
Queensland's Zangold was awarded a $1 million contract to develop a portable improvised explosive detector to assist with the detection of homemade explosives, chemical warfare agents, narcotics and gasses, while Victoria's Kul Technologies was awarded $770,000 to explore the development of a more easily transportable and efficient modular hybrid power generation system.
In ACT, Nova Defence received a $779,000 contract to explore the development of a low-cost, high-speed direct mobile ground target that could be used as a realistic direct target for air and ground based defence systems, and Data61 was awarded $441,000 to continue the development of its multi-award winning Cross Domain Desktop Compositor technology, allowing users to view and work across multiple Defence networks from a single monitor, while maintaining the integrity of each network.
Minister Pyne said the latest tranche of Defence Innovation Hub will sustain 23 jobs across the Australian defence industry and innovation sector, and help to give Australia's armed forces the edge in battle.
"Providing our troops with the latest in innovative defence technologies will ensure we remain resilient to these threats, and our defence industry plays a crucial part in helping us achieve this," Minister Pyne said.
"The Defence Innovation Hub is a key initiative of the Turnbull government, bringing industry and Defence together to undertake collaborative innovation activities from concept through to introduction into service."
Industry and research organisations can continue to submit proposals through the Defence Innovation Portal here.
