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Defence Industry Minister, Melissa Price has announced the launch of the Test, evaluation, certification and systems assurance Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Implementation Plan that provides important guidance to test and evaluate equipment and systems for the Australian Defence Force.
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Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the Test, evaluation, certification and systems assurance Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Implementation Plan would support and grow specialist expertise in Australia’s defence industry.
The Implementation Plan highlights Defence’s future test and evaluation requirements for emerging technologies, particularly within the information and cyber domain, and outlines potential areas of future cooperation between industry and Defence.
Minister Price said the new Implementation Plan was a vital element of Defence’s understanding and management of its capability.
“The test and evaluation of Defence capability is necessary to ensure Australian Defence Force personnel are safe and their equipment is fit-for-purpose. As Defence capabilities become increasingly connected, we also need to ensure our systems work effectively with those of our coalition partners and that discrete systems can come together to form a holistic joint force,” Minister Price explained.
For the purposes of this Implementation Plan, test, evaluation, certification and systems assurance includes:
- Test and evaluation – A process or an activity to obtain information to support the objective assessment of a capability system with known confidence, and to confirm whether or not a risk is contained within acceptable boundaries across all facets of a system’s life cycle;
- Certification – Providing Defence capability with an official statement (certificate) by an appropriate and competent authority that a product or related process conforms to certain requirements. Certification can cover a broad range of requirements, including system safety, performance, compliance, security, environmental suitability and interoperability; and
- Systems assurance – The justified confidence, supported by objective evidence, that systems function as intended to achieve the required military effect, and are free of exploitable vulnerabilities, either intentionally or unintentionally designed or inserted at any time during a capability’s life of type.
Minister Price added, “As technology advances, industry and Defence need to work together to adapt to new ways of thinking. This is particularly important in testing new or emerging capabilities in the information and cyber domain, as outlined in the 2020 Force Structure Plan.”
“This Implementation Plan highlights areas where cooperation between industry and Defence practitioners is most critical. It outlines the industrial capabilities we need to build within our industrial base to assure that modern Defence systems and equipment are right for the job,” Minister Price said.
Full details of the plan are available here.
