NEWS & INITIATIVES

As part of the Force Structure Plan 2020, the Government intends to invest in the Royal Australian Navy’s next generation of undersea surveillance. As this capability advances over the next few decades, it will contribute to Australia’s maritime awareness and protection of sea lines of communication. This will be done through the delivery of enhanced command and control of current Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) assets, the introduction into service of dedicated ocean surveillance platforms and sensors and development of innovative and emerging technologies to maintain a capability edge.

Funded by the Next Generation Technologies Fund, in partnership with CSIRO, D.Start Ignite is the only program offering participants the chance to pitch ideas directly to stakeholders that can help them identify possible military applications or suggest how they might refocus their efforts in other areas. D.Start Ignite is built on the ON Prime program created by CSIRO. It taps into the Australian entrepreneurial environment to rapidly transition innovative technologies into Defence capability.

An opportunity for academia and industry to contribute to the Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosives Ordnance Enterprise through a RFI on AusTender, see details below, noting the tight time frames:

The full breadth of the GWEO Enterprise activities :
·      Research and Development
·      Manufacturing
·      Test and Evaluation
·      Storage and Distribution
·      Maintenance
·      Disposal
·      Training and Education

RFI applications close 2nd August

Defence has partnered with Australian non-profit Common Mission Project Limited  (CMP Ltd) to support the establishment of the D.Start Catalyst program across several Australian universities.

D.Start Catalyst builds on the success of established United States and United Kingdom programs – Hacking for Defense (H4D) and Hacking for MoD – as well as a pilot program using the same methodology, known in Australia as Hacking for National Security (H4NS), at the University of New South Wales in early 2021.