The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) has wasted no time in issuing its first innovation challenge – a Request for Information (RFI) to support an Australian sovereign uncrewed aerial system and trusted autonomy capability.
In a covering letter to respondents, ASCA said it was particularly interested in small, general purpose systems that could be produced at greater scale than was currently possible to service a wide range of applications, “but without the security limitations and supply chain vulnerability of current commercial suppliers”.
Responses to the RFI may also support planning for developing innovative applications of existing uncrewed aerial systems, including applications involving increased autonomy, ASCA stated.
Published on 31 July, the RFI closes on 21 August.
ASCA replaces the Defence Innovation Hub and the Next Generation Technologies Fund, which the Defence Strategic Review identified as no longer fit for purpose in Australia’s current strategic environment.
Announcing ASCA’s commencement of operations on 1 July, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Accelerator would take a new and ambitious approach to transitioning game-changing ideas into capabilities that would give the ADF an asymmetric advantage.