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The Australian Army has used its fifth consecutive annual Innovation Day at ADFA to showcase next-generational land capabilities.
The theme for the event was 'Delivering a Next Generation Army', with 19 companies from Australia and overseas presenting 24 industry proposals.
Head of Land Capability, Major General Kathryn Toohey, AM, CSC, said, "Army views innovation as a valuable contributor to capability. It’s important we continue to develop superior knowledge, skills and technology through continuous innovation."
Army Innovation Day is an opportunity for Army to showcase that it is an organisation in motion to continuously explore new ideas, as well as build relationships with defence industry, academia and international partners on the latest developments in technology and war-fighting capabilities.
"We have seen robotics and autonomous systems that improve a combat team’s engagement, various techniques for improving communications systems, and learnt of new examples of small drones that assist soldiers in having increased situational awareness," MAJGEN Toohey explained.
Participants in attendance were able to view a product pitched at Innovation Day 2014, the Black Hornet Nano unmanned aerial system (UAS).
"The Black Hornet Nano UAS is an excellent example of the type of products which add significant future capability. It has now been rolled out to soldiers in Army’s 6th Brigade for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks," MAJGEN Toohey said.
The Army Innovation Day cycle is designed to get leading-edge technology into the hands of soldiers within a 12-month period. Some of the products presented will go through the Army’s short-cycle nomination, selection, demonstration and assessment process.
Army Innovation Day supports the implementation of key Army projects, including accelerated warfare and the concept of 'An Army in Motion'.
Accelerated warfare describes both the operating environment and a description of how the Army responds. Accelerated warfare provides the start-state for how the Army equip, train, educate, organise and prepare for war.
Being future ready means continuing Australia's contribution to an open and fair international system, and being prepared for increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
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