Latest News from ADA-Vic

Hi there,

We are excited to announce that the Minister for Defence Industry (MINDI), the Hon. Melissa Price, will be the guest speaker at our BD After 5 event, from 6 pm to 9apm, on Thursday, 24th March 2022.

This will be a terrific opportunity to network over drinks and canapes with SMEs, Primes and representatives from CASG and to hear directly from the Minister regarding the latest developments in Defence Industry.

Tickets are $45 for ADA-Vic Members and $66 for non-Members. ADA-Vic Members will be prioritised and can purchase tickets from today. Remaining tickets will then be open for purchase by non ADA-Vic Members from Wednesday,16th March.

Major Announcement - Government to Increase ADF Workforce by 30%

The size and capability of the Australian Defence Force will be significantly increased by the Morrison Government to keep Australians safe in an increasingly uncertain global environment.

Under the plan, the number of ADF personnel will increase by around 30 per cent by 2040, taking the total permanent ADF to almost 80,000 personnel.

Overall, Defence’s total permanent workforce will increase to over 101,000 by 2040 – an increase of 18,500 over baseline growth already agreed in the 2020 Force Structure Plan.

The estimated cost of this expansion is at least $38 billion over the period to 2040, which is a significant investment in ensuring our ADF has the right people and skills to keep our nation safe.

International Women's Day-Acknowledging the Role that Women Play in the ADF

International Women's Day was this week on the 8th March and ADA-Vic would like to acknowledge the role that women have played in the ADF since the first Army Nursing Service was established in New South Wales in 1899.

The role of women in the ADF expanded in 1941–42 when the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force established female branches in which women took on a range of support roles. These organisations were disbanded at the end of the war, but were reestablished in 1950 as part of the military's permanent structure. Women were integrated into the services during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but were not allowed to apply for combat roles. In January 2013, serving women were allowed to apply for all positions in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) except special forces which became open to women in January 2014. In January 2016, civilian women became able to direct entry to all positions.

The ADF has an overall female participation rate of 19.2%. This has grown steadily since 2011, when Defence made increasing female participation a priority, with the intent of opening all previously gender restricted roles to women. Since 2012-13 defence has produced an annual ‘Women in the ADF’ report to assess their progress. In comparison with other militaries (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member and partner nations), Australia’s performance is very strong. In 2018, Australia was ranked third amongst all NATO and partner nations.

The percentage of women in each service as of the 2019-2020 report is 22.3% in the Navy, 14.9% in the Army, and 24.6% in the Air Force.

If you are interested in more information please read Women in the ADF Report 2019-2020. The 2020-21 report is yet to be published.

Additional Submarine Base to be Built on East Coast

A new submarine base will be built on the east coast of Australia to support the nation’s new nuclear-powered submarines, providing deployment opportunities in both the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The new Future Navy Base will add capacity and capability to Fleet Base West in Western Australia, home of the Navy’s Collins-class submarines, which will also receive significant funding to support Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines and enable regular visits from the United States and United Kingdom’s nuclear-powered submarines.

The Department of Defence estimates that more than $10 billion will be needed for facility and infrastructure requirements to transition from Collins to the future nuclear-powered submarines, including the new east coast submarine base.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision to establish an east coast submarine base has been underway for many years and would enhance Australia’s strategic deterrent capability in the Pacific Ocean.

Australian Defence Industry Space Capability Alliance Formed

The Australian Defence Industry Space Capability Alliance (ADISCA) debuted at the 13th Australian Space Forum on 3 March 2022 in Adelaide, South Australia.

ADISCA is a collaboration between eight leading Australian-owned Space and Defence companies who can, collectively, deliver on all Defence’s Sovereign Industry Capability Priorities for space.

The ADISCA members are DEWC Systems, Gilmour Space Technologies, Inovor Technologies, Neumann Space, Nova Systems, Southern Launch, REDARC Defence Systems, and Space Machines Company.

ADA-Vic Member, Arcitecta, Recognized for Innovative End-to-End Data Management Solution

MELBOURNE, Australia and SINGAPORE – March 2, 2022 – Big data company Arcitecta, a creative and innovative software company, announced that Mediaflux, the company’s end-to-end data management platform, has been awarded the "Most Complete Solution" and "Best Software Architecture" by the International Data Mover Challenge (DMC) at this week’s Supercomputing Asia 2022 (SCA22) event. Arcitecta was also recognized for its pioneering work in accelerating high-speed data transfer across global networks, enabling the transfer of data between two or more global destinations in parallel at the speed of light.

Built on Arcitecta’s world-class hyperscale database technology, Mediaflux is an open platform with tight security and access controls driven through a simple API that delivers significant workflow efficiencies using a single system to manage the transmission pipeline, including storage management at each end. Ideal for distributed computing and storage environments, the Mediaflux end-to-end data management platform supports any type of data, structured or unstructured, in addition to unlimited data workflows in some of the world's most demanding environments.

From Defence:

The Commonwealth Government has committed to growing the size of the ADF by 30 percent. See more here.

Other News:

Hanwha Group has announced its intention to expand its business interests in Australia. See more here.
The DSI has identified grants or other opportunities that may be of interest:

The Commonwealth Government’s Moon to Mars Initiative Demonstrator Grants will open on 14 March 2022. See more here.
The UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator is inviting proposals for its second call on telexistence systems with applications closing on 6 April 2022. See more here.

Sypaq has submitted the CorvoX UAV for Land 129 Phase 4B. See more here.
Cyber security company Cydarm, has secured $3 million in equity investment. See more here.
Leidos has secured a significant contract to support the National Institute of Allegy and Infectious Diseases. See more here.
QinetiQ Australia has joined Lockheed Martin Australia’s team for project AIR 6500. See more here.

Upcoming Domestic Events:

22-23 March 2022 – Air and Space Power Conference. See more here.
24 March 2022 – Australian Space Summit. See more here.
5 April 2022 – Northern Australia Defence Summit. See more here.
10-12 May 2022 – Indo-Pacific International Maritime Exposition. See more here.
15 June 2022 – Trusted Autonomous Systems 2022 Symposium. See more here.
22 June 2022 – ADM Congress. See more here.
20-22 July 2022 – Australian Defence Science and Technology Research Summit. See more here.
4-6 October 2022 – Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition. See more here.
11-17 November 2022 – Maritime RobotX Challenge. See more here.
28 February-5 March 2023 – Australian International Aerospace & Defence Exposition (28 February – 3 March) and the Australian International Airshow ( 3 – 5 March). See more here.

Victorian Common User Facility

If industry requires access to secure communications facilities to engage with Defence, this can be provided through the Victorian Common User Facility.

Defence Industry Support Tools

The Office of Defence Industry Support has a number of tools to support defence SMEs. The Defence Business Readiness Tool, the Digital Readiness Assessment Tool, and the Cyber Security Assessment Tool.

Links to Grant and other Programs:

Australian Defence Export Office Pitch Training Program

The ADEO, in partnership with Marketing Entourage, have created a five week online pitch training program specifically for businesses looking to export defence and dual use goods and services. This training is fully subsidised for Australian Defence Industry businesses.

The program is specifically designed to improve the chances of success for Australian defence industry companies when engaging with opportunities to pitch their capabilities to foreign military and military suppliers. The training is delivered through a series of webinars, online modules and one-to-one pitch practice sessions.

Australian Defence Industry businesses are encouraged to apply by registering their interest at the link below. Multiple people from the same business can be included as a single application. Limited spaces are available on each cohort and the ADEO will prioritise businesses who have recently participated in an industry delegation with TDA.

Click here to learn more about the Online Pitch Training Program and to register your interest.

BAE Systems Hunter Class Opportunities

BAE Systems Maritime Australia’s Innovation team is seeking Expressions of Interest from industry to support the Hunter Class Frigate Program (HCFP) to:

Investigate manufacturing technologies, materials, coatings, and processes with the potential to improve the sail away performance of the nine Hunter class frigates;
Investigate infrastructure, the workforce, and shipyard capabilities to ensure the Osborne Naval Shipyard maintains high levels of productivity, quality and safety; and,
Investigate ongoing maintenance or future capability upgrades that may immediately influence the design and delivery of the nine Hunter Frigates to be built at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.

The team will evaluate submissions quarterly - with feedback - until June 2022.

Each EOI reviewed by the Hunter Innovation Team may be considered for future steps including a Request for Information (RFI) and/or Request for Proposal (RFP). This may lead to a an agreement for a scope of work which could be in the form of a Research Task, Case Study; Feasibility Studies; Proof of Concept; Prototyping; or other agreed scope of work.