Nova Systems has been awarded a Defence Innovation Hub contract and is developing an Australian-designed and manufactured capability to help improve personnel training and weapons testing for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Nova Systems will support the development of two Ground Expendable Target (GET) concepts, providing an in-country capability to support the testing of complex and potentially networked weapon systems.
The GET, a feature of Nova Systems’ Agile Ground Target System (AGTS), will provide an automated moving ground target for training personnel and testing advanced weapon systems.
Nova Systems Chief Executive Officer, Jim McDowell, said due to the increasing prevalence of fast-moving threats and irregular vehicles in areas of operation, including improvised explosive devices, ADF personnel need to be prepared for the ever-increasing complexity of battlefield engagements.
“We need to develop training which accurately represents these encounters, to ensure our ADF personnel can train in realistic scenarios,” said McDowell.
“To address this capability shortfall, Nova Systems developed an automated Agile Ground Target Vehicle capable of high-speed, cross country and agile operations.
“If successful, the system could provide the ADF with tailorable threat engagement scenarios capable of simulating high speed and agile adversaries in a training or test environment on any ADF range, ensuring they are fully prepared for current and future conflicts.
“This would support the development of techniques, tactics and procedures, and ongoing training, and verification and validation of new weapon systems.”
The company says that if successful – and if the technology is acquired by Defence – a service delivery option will engage Australian industry in the operation and support of the system and invoke inputs from across the local supply chain including the maintenance and spares, ongoing engineering development and transportation to site.
Nova Systems’ prototype AGTV was demonstrated to Defence and DIH at Delamere Air Weapons Range where it showed it could navigate various terrains at different speeds while being be controlled over long-range telemetry link.