Page 97 - Australian Defence Magazine Nov 2020
P. 97

                    NOVEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
FROM THE SOURCE   AMANDA HOLT 97
  HOLT: “Samson” is a VTOL UAS designed for operations from patrol boats and OPVs. We’re delivering an advanced, pre-production prototype capability demonstration for Navy in 2021. We have quite an iterative prototyping ap- proach, so we’re halfway through that process at the mo- ment and the results are very exciting. Launch and retrieval from small decks means overcoming traditional shipboard integration considerations has been a primary driver for the design, and Navy has been an excellent collaboration part- ner in realising this capability.
ADM: And what is happening with your Defence Innova- tion Hub contract under Land 129 Phase 4B to further de- velop the Corvo X VTOL (Vertical Landing and Take-off) UAS as a potential replacement for Army’s capability? HOLT: Corvo X has quite sensitive flight dynamics and other characteristics, but essentially it’s hand-launched, reduces
ABOVE LEFT: Amanda and then Head of Land Capability MAJGEN Kath Toohey sign an agreement at the Avalon Air Show.
ABOVE: Development work on a ‘flatpack UAV’ for HADR missions continues.
projects we’re taking on, they’re often not with traditional Defence businesses, they’re with big ICT systems integra- tors who may have historically worked with CIOG but, more traditionally, with other government departments.
But they need someone who speaks Defence’s language and understands the boxes at the end of the networks and how to innovate within this complex ecosystem. So we’re seeing a lot more collaboration, within both government departments and industry, that’s forcing us all to have more of that end-to-end conversation around information assur-
ance and data provenance, that I think is forcing us to look at that bigger picture.
For a number of years we found it very chal- lenging to do business with CIOG as a smaller business. Whether it’s good fortune or wheth- er it’s by design, CIOG’s ability to work with specialist smaller businesses to realise that unique value proposition definitely seems to be opening up and maturing. So we’re certain- ly celebrating that and hoping it will continue.
  the cognitive load on the soldier, and limits ing launch and recovery. So that drove some quite unique aspects to design, which were critical factors when engaging in early con- cept design with Army.
A pre-production prototype will be demon- strated to Army early next year. We’re hoping not only that this will be the Australian solu- tion to Army’s requirement, but also that the compelling export potential for this system can be realised. There will be a Request for Tender but we’re not sure yet whether it will be restricted or open.
exposure dur-
  “A PRE-PRODUCTION PROTOTYPE OF CORVO WILL BE DEMONSTRATED TO ARMY EARLY NEXT YEAR.”
  ADM: What’s it like doing business with CASG and CIOG? HOLT: I think some commercial models are more restric- tive than others in encouraging innovation and outstanding professional service, rather than putting a focus on sim- ply providing individual resources. But I’m confident both Groups are aware of this challenge as they continue to ma- ture their standing offer arrangements.
More broadly, understanding just how network-depen- dent and data-dependent every ship, every aircraft, every platform now is, has really helped refocus the workforce, and that’s within Defence as well as industry. When I look at some of our most significant new partnerships and
ADM: Do you feel any increased pressure to expedite Defence work?
HOLT: There absolutely is but I think Australian industry is up to the challenge. The main risk for Defence in this sort of new hyper-urgency is that we may see support for very, very high risk, low probability of success options because they’re presented beautifully from a marketing perspective. I’d hate to see that happen.
So ensuring we have enough technical rigour around the viability of these game-changing new ideas, and really understanding what industry is capable of doing today, is vital. Getting that balance of risk and reality right is where we will deliver genuine, sovereign competitive advantage to Defence. ■
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