Page 54 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2022

54 SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEFENDTEX
JUNE 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AUSSIE SME SUCCESS – DEFENDTEX
As specialists in Defence R&D, Australian-owned SME DefendTex is well familiar with the ambitious journey behind getting novel capability into the hands of the warfighter.
ROYA GHODSI | SYDNEY
WITH around 100 staff and a strong university engagement mod- el, employing an additional 139 researchers across 30 univer- sities, DefendTex invests in fundamental research which it then transitions into the manufacture of disruptive battlefield systems for the Australian, UK and US defence forces.
DefendTex’s research spans from rocket-propelled pro- jectiles to new types of body armour, but its leading and most evolved family of products is in the loitering muni- tions space.
One of these products, Drone 40, was first exhibited at Army Innovation Day in 2016, and after multiple Defence Innovation Hub contracts and numerous technology itera- tions, has since been picked up by all Five Eyes countries. Several hundred systems have been acquired by UK Min- istry of Defence (UK MOD), currently deployed to Mali on operations with the British Army.
As of early last year, development was progressing on another loitering munition product, this time for under- water environments: the Sea Hunting Autonomous Re- connaissance Drone (SHARD). SHARD, with its tentacle- like legs, was designed as a biomimetic solution – meaning it took cues from nature – and was intended for ASW or ISR missions.
SHARD, however, failed to gain traction with Navy, and its core biomimetic approach has since been transitioned to a similar project – the Autonomous Snake Platform (ASP) – this time an Army-funded initiative. The ASP, which emu- lates the same kinematic, acoustic and thermal profiles as a snake, is capable of carrying payloads across almost any type of ground terrain.
So why did SHARD fail to get off the ground (or into the water)?
DEFENDTEX