Page 7 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2023

ADVERTORIAL
Arming Australia’s manufacturing industry to support the Warfighter
Adedicated Defence Technology Accelerator program to address key gaps in the defence manufacturing ecosystem to best equip the Warfighter has met with strong support says Dr Cori Stewart, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub.
The ARM Hub chief called for a dedicated technology accelerator for defence at the Land Forces conference in Brisbane in October.
“We’ve had strong support and are in active discussions around a technology accelerator program for renewables, space and defence,” Dr Stewart said.
“The Accelerator will enable emerging technology providers to develop, demonstrate, and scale-up delivery of innovative Defence solutions in a rapid development process, which is something we don’t have access to at this time.”
Dr Stewart’s call for the Defence Technology Accelerator was supported
by the Office for Defence Industry Support (ODIS) and the Defence Science Technology Group (DSTG).
Both of these groups highlighted the criticality of sovereign manufacturing and sovereign capability, but also the difficulty that Australian SME’s face in breaking into the defence supply chain.
“The ARM Hub Defence Technology accelerator is intended to break down the
barriers to defence entry for our country’s fantastic manufacturers,” Dr Stewart said. “By providing our proven and highly
regarded technology acceleration service
in combination with a new offering that dramatically reduces the cost and lead-time to Defence compliance, we believe that we have a winning formula for accelerating Australian Industry Content into Defence Supply,” Dr Stewart said.
ARM Hub is seeking $12 million to establish a pilot Defence Technology Accelerator Program, in collaboration with its university and investment partners.
“It’s not a silver bullet, but it does address some major inhibitors for Australian SME to participate in the Defence Industry,”
Dr Stewart said.
“It will make the Defence Supply environment significantly less hostile to Australian SMEs and start-ups; increase sovereign manufacturing capability and Australian industry content; while also boosting capability overmatch.”
The Accelerator addresses key hurdles for SMEs in working with Defence, including the significant investment in time and resources required to meet Defence compliance; the lack of knowledge of Defence procurement and the Defence ecosystem; and the lack
of a stable mechanism to form consortia to respond comprehensively to Defence tenders.
Dr Stewart said the Accelerator would
house many SMEs simultaneously and actively support the formation of consortia.
“The Accelerator would act as a focal point for a ‘whole-of-ecosystem’ approach to supporting Australian SMEs, and ultimately the Warfighter,” she said.
“It brings together in one program the marketplace of SMEs, primes, the Australian Defence Forces, along with the investment, skills and the talent required to make transformation happen.”
Dr Stewart said Defence was investing significantly in programs such as the MQ-28A Ghost Bat or ‘Loyal Wingman’, the Anduril XLUUV program and the Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise or GWEO.
“Projects such as these are fast-paced, high- technology programs which could generate enormous industry capability benefits if
the SMEs pursuing them follow the right development and growth path,” she said.
She said the Accelerator model would be ideal for next-generation technology that needs to be exploited quickly to provide
a battlefield advantage and which might need updating or replacing quite rapidly
– like sensors on a ‘drone’, or the software controlling a weapon or combat management system
“Some of these technologies need to be developed rapidly in a process that tolerates risk but also controls costs.” ■
LEFT: ARM Hub joined with the QLD Government stand during the Land Forces Exposition 2022. L-R: Samuel Jesuadian, Chief Operating Officer, ARM Hub; Denise Johnston, Executive Director, Defence Jobs QLD; A/Prof Cori Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, ARM Hub; Jackie Taranto, Board member, ARM Hub; Dr Troy Cordie, Mechatronic Engineer, ARM Hub.
ABOVE: ARM Hub CEO Associate Professor Cori Stewart
armhub.com.au