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Ten local businesses have been awarded grants via the Commonwealth government’s Defence Innovation Hub, marking the achievement of a new milestone.
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Defence Innovation Hub grants totalling almost $20 million have been awarded to 10 local businesses based in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT.
The contracts are expected to fund projects aimed at bolstering both Army and Navy capability.
Grant recipients include both SMEs and primes, with BAE Systems Australia among the businesses to secure funding.
Victoria-based RingIR has been awarded the largest contract ($3.9 million), to fund the development of a portable device designed to accelerate the identification of dangerous chemicals and explosives.
Other businesses to receive the latest tranche of contracts include:
|
Organisation |
State |
Contract value (GST incl.) |
Description of innovation |
|
Mission Systems Australia |
WA |
$2.7 million |
To develop a networked underwater acoustic sensor. |
|
Mincham Aviation |
SA |
$2.2 million |
To continue to develop a tube-launched aerial delivery system for rapid and accurate payload delivery in maritime environments. |
|
TAE Gas Turbines |
QLD |
$2.2 million |
To develop a single-stage engine filter for the existing fleet of Abrams tanks for improved performance and efficiency. |
|
Marathon Targets |
NSW |
$1.6 million |
To continue to develop an unmanned, realistic and self-propelled vehicle target to support Australian Defence Force training. |
|
Mediaware International |
ACT |
$1.6 million |
To develop an information processing system that integrates data to present a single visualisation for accelerated decision making. |
|
Sentient Vision |
VIC |
$1.3 million |
To develop an enhanced visual detection system for use in reduced visibility conditions to detect and classify objects of interest. |
|
BAE Systems Australia |
VIC |
$1.1 million |
To develop a software-based decision support system to extract tactically useful information from maritime environments and facilitate accelerated decision making. |
|
Defendtex Research Labs |
VIC |
$263,000 |
To develop a gas to disable a combustion engine, removing the need for explosives or tank traps. |
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price particularly welcomed the $2.7 million contract awarded to Western Australia’s Mission Systems Australia to further develop a networked underwater acoustic sensor for Navy.
“This is the largest Hub contract awarded to a WA company to date,” she commented.
These latest awards take the overall number of contracts issued to defence industry under the scheme to 150, with a total value of over $300 million.
Minister Price said surpassing $300 million in contract awards represents a significant milestone in the development of sovereign defence industry and innovation capability.
“We are helping local companies to develop new technology to help keep Australia safe. The Defence Innovation Hub’s investment strategy has played a transformative role for Australia’s small-to-medium businesses and the way in which they innovate and support Defence requirements,” the minister said.
“It is rewarding to have Australian businesses continue their partnership with the Hub and mature their innovations towards delivering the future capabilities that Defence needs.”
Minister Price concluded: “The $300 million investment milestone demonstrates the growing success of Australia’s defence industry and innovation sector as they partner with Defence to build truly sovereign game-changing military capability.”
[Related: Defence Innovation Hub awards nine new contracts]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
