Held concurrently with the Chief of Army Symposium at the Adelaide Convention Centre on August 10 & 11, the Army Innovation Day (AID) 2022, Army Robotics Exposition (ARX) 2022 and Quantum Technology Challenge (QTC) 2022 provided insight into Army’s thinking around emerging technologies.
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing strategic environment, Army is looking to harness new technologies to give it a warfighting edge, but also to realise efficiencies in operations, logistics and sustainment.
“The Australian Army is responding by constantly adapting, evolving and transforming to remain prepared for the demands of the future. We strive for balance by continually experimenting, adapting, analysing and applying new and emerging technologies,” Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart explained.
“The Chief of Army Symposium brings together innovative thinkers from industries large and small for the applied focus and practical collaboration on new and emerging technologies. The Army Innovation Day, Army Quantum Technology Challenge and Army Robotics Expo are incubators to focus thinking and experimentation around Army’s operational challenges for today and tomorrow.”
The theme for the Army Innovation Day this year was unmanned systems and in particular, how to solve the challenges of casualty evacuation and logistics resupply. Around 20 companies, ranging from micro-SMEs to the major primes, each displayed their various solutions for consideration.
Brigadier Warren Gould, Director General Systems and Integration at Army Headquarters and sponsor of AID 2022 told ADM that the proposals received through the Defence Innovation Hub were grouped together by theme to allow Army to look at a broader opportunity set.
“It’s about having a broader look at opportunities, so we can be more selective of the opportunities those proposals present. We try to be broad in our theme description to allow opportunities that reside in that description and let industry come forward with their ideas and to allow innovation to occur,” he said.
“We fund it through the DIH under the sponsorship of Army, as that’s a trusted and true mechanism for getting into contract for those that we downselect.”
The Army Quantum Technology Challenge was launched at the event in Brisbane last year and this year it was extended to two days, overlapping both AID 2022 and the Army Robotics Exposition.
Proving that Army’s consideration process is equitable, one of the eleven organisations with Quantum technologies on display at QTC 2022 came not from industry large or small, but from within Army itself. A team from the recently re-raised 10th Light Horse Regiment in Perth demonstrated a deployable deperm facility which acts as a passive countermeasure against magnetic detection. Using the technology, metal objects can be made to appear much smaller than they actually are to a magnetic sensor and vice versa; for example making a small metallic unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) appear like a main battle tank.
Held on August 11, the Army Robotics Exposition launched an electrically-powered Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (ePMV) and a solar-enhanced Bushmaster variant to harness energy from the sun while the vehicle is deployed.
The ePMV has been developed by Newcastle-based 3ME Technology in partnership with Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation & Coordination Office (RICO), led by Colonel Robin Smith, and was unveiled on the opening day by Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite.
“This ePMV brings the benefits of electric vehicles to the battlefield, particularly being quieter than its combustion counterparts, and I look forward to seeing it perform in field trials,” Thistlethwaite said.
The solar-enhanced Bushmaster also on display at ARX 2022 has been developed by Adelaide SME Praxis Labs and the toughened solar panels installed on the vehicle promises to reduce Army’s reliance on electrical generators or other heat-producing sources out in the field.
Canberra-based ECLIPS demonstrated its Automated Resupply Mechanical Handling System (ARMHS), which is a means of reloading Army’s Hanwha AS10 Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicles (AARV) being acquired under Land 8116 Phase 1. The automated system is being developed in partnership with RICO and aims to remove around 20 humans from the arduous resupply process of the AARV’s 104 60 kg shells.
“ARX is an opportunity for companies to deal directly with senior Defence leadership. It’s not about buying things: many of the things here you just can’t buy, because they’re in development,” COL Smith explained. “Another great opportunity is networking amongst like companies.”
A more detailed report from the events, including an in-depth look at some of these technologies will appear in the September/October issue of ADM.