The Hon Richard Marles MP
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The Hon Pat Conroy MP
20 Dec 24
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The Hon Pat Conroy MP
Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery
Minister for International Development and the Pacific
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11 December 2023
The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) is now seeking industry and research partners to co-design projects as part of the Albanese Government’s commitment to transforming Australia’s defence innovation ecosystem and delivering the advanced technologies needed for our national security.
ASCA, which the Government established less than three months after receiving the Defence Strategic Review, is calling for input on potential solutions as well as skills and capability needs related to long-range strike operations and improving processing of large amounts of intelligence data.
The input will be used to invite respondents to co-design the first ASCA mission, which will seek to resolve two ASCA problem statements announced on 1 November, and which are aligned to Defence’s strategic priorities.
The problem statements are:
- How might we degrade and infiltrate advanced integrated air defence systems so that Defence can conduct effective long-range strike operations, taking into account speed and scale required to operate in congested and contested environments that is faster than a potential adversary’s ability to react?
- How might we improve the processing and synthesis of large amounts of intelligence data to support the planning and apportionment of platforms, taking into account different classification levels of data, systems and allies data systems?
An approach to market is now open on AusTender and will close on 25 January 2024.
Launched on 1 July 2023, ASCA is part of the most significant reshaping of defence innovation in decades, designed to deliver vital capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
The Albanese Government is investing $748 million in ASCA over the next four years, and $3.4 billion over the next decade. This is an additional $591 million above planned spending on defence innovation over the decade.
For more information, go to www.asca.gov.au/opportunities
Quotes attributable to Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy:
“Australia’s strategic environment, made more uncertain by rapid technological development, demands a transformation of the defence innovation system to provide vital capabilities for the ADF.
“Today’s call for submissions by ASCA shows the Albanese Government is making good on its promise to unlock and ignite innovation and deliver the capabilities our ADF personnel need to do their job in defence of the Australian people.
“This is also an exciting step towards building partnerships to identify innovation opportunities, and crucially, linking technology development and accelerating acquisition that enables the creation of many more jobs in the Australian defence industry. We look forward to working with organisations from across the entire innovation spectrum – from start-ups and SMEs to universities and research providers - to co-design ASCA’s first mission.”
ENDS