CANBERRA (CU)_The Australian government’s Department of Defence launched the Defence Innovation Hub with the aim of supporting Australian businesses and academic and research organisations to develop innovative solutions that would enhance the capabilities of the country’s defence force. Accordingly, following a call for submissions, the department would assess the suitability of a proposal to mature their innovations to meet Defence’s capability needs.
Last week the government announced 10 new contracts for such proposals worth $20 million, which brought the total number of contracts signed by the HUB to over 150. This was a major milestone in the government’s investment in innovative defence industry businesses, which exceeded $300 million as a result.
Following the announcement, Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price noted that this was a testament to Canberra’s commitment to support Aussie ingenuity to help protect the men and women of the Australian Defence Force.
“This major milestone demonstrates the Morrison Government’s commitment to nurturing the Australia’s sovereign defence industry and innovation capability,” she said. “We are helping local companies to develop new technology to help keep Australia safe.”
She also highlighted the crucial role played by the investments of the Defence Innovation Hub which has strengthened the innovative capabilities of Australia’s small-to-medium businesses in supporting the country’s Defence requirements. “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,” she added.
The contracts were awarded to businesses in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, of which the largest contract was awarded to a WA company.
“I am particularly delighted to announce a $2.7 million contract with Western Australia’s Mission Systems Australia to further develop a networked underwater acoustic sensor for Navy,” the minister noted. “This is the largest Hub contract awarded to a WA company to date.”
According to Price, the milestone of $300 million investment demonstrates the growing success of Australia’s defence industry and innovation sector in building “truly sovereign game-changing military capability”.
