Australia Ups Defence Technology Spending (Jun 16)
The Howard Government has increased funding for the Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) program by A$40.9 million over the next three financial years - effectively doubling the annual average expenditure on the program, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.
Senator Hill said Defence will invest A$26 million in twelve new technology projects during the next financial year – including a hand held underwater sonar device to detect mines, blast resistant material for Army vehicles and flexible solar panels to generate power for ADF operations in the field.
Senator Hill said the funding will be spread across several Australian companies demonstrating a diverse range of innovative technologies.
"The CTD program, coordinated by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), encourages the development of advanced technologies with the potential to significantly boost future Defence capability," Senator Hill said.
"The increased funding fulfils an election commitment of the Coalition Government and will provide Defence with the latest technology, capability and protection to carry out its duties in the best and safest possible way.
"We view Australian industry as an important partner in this process, and the substantial increase in investment will encourage industry participation and reward innovation."
Senator Hill said the additional funds will not only increase industry participation in the program but also make it easier for companies to submit proposals.
"For the first time, seed funding will be available for companies to develop their proposals, particularly small and medium companies. Funding has also been made available for future studies into promising capability concepts.
"The new CTD projects could potentially result in enhanced operational capabilities, major savings for Defence, spin-offs for civilian applications and provide export opportunities."
Technologies shortlisted for the 2005-06 CTD program also include a system to detect moving objects in real-time from existing video surveillance sensors, countermeasures for lightly-armed ships against modern imaging radars, a safe landing aid for helicopters operating in poor visibility conditions, ultra-thin fibre optic laser sensors for underwater towed arrays, software for collecting geospatial information from multiple sources and a system to exchange such information with operational areas, and advanced communication and data links.
The CTD program was first funded in July 1998 and presently comprises 38 active projects. To date about A$116 million has been allocated to various projects.
