The government has announced 10 new contracts worth almost $20 million for defence industry, taking the total number of contracts signed by the Defence Innovation Hub to over 150.
The government's investment in innovative Australian defence industry businesses has now surpassed $300 million.
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the milestone was testament to the government's support for Australian ingenuity and know-how to help protect the men and women of the ADF.
"The Defence Innovation Hub's investment strategy has played a transformative role for Australia's small-to-medium businesses and the way in which they innovate and support Defence requirements," Minister Price said.
"It is rewarding to have Australian businesses continue their partnership with the Hub and mature their innovations towards delivering the future capabilities that Defence needs."
Nine of the 10 new contracts will allow the companies to continue developing promising technologies that have already benefited from previous Defence Innovation Hub funding.
The contracts were awarded to businesses in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia in support of Army and Navy capabilities.
"I am particularly delighted to announce a $2.7 million contract with Western Australia's Mission Systems Australia to further develop a networked underwater acoustic sensor for Navy," Minister Price said. "This is the largest Hub contract awarded to a WA company to date.
"The $300 million investment milestone demonstrates the growing success of Australia’s defence industry and innovation sector as they partner with Defence to build truly sovereign game-changing military capability."