The government is investing up to $35 million in the remaining phase of a program in which 18 small businesses are designing, developing and manufacturing a military communications prototype.
The Command, Control, Communications and Computing Evolutionary Digital Ground Environment (C4 EDGE) program highlights Australian industry’s ability to deliver critical sovereign communication solutions for the Australian Army.
The small businesses will complete their prototypes by the end of 2021.
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the C4 EDGE program had enabled small businesses from almost every state and territory to deliver a proof-of-concept for mobile tactical communications systems.
Minister Price said software and hardware builds and testing activities would follow.
“Up to 53 jobs are expected to be generated across the project’s entire 18-month lifespan, which will include local design and manufacturing of critical defence capabilities, such as mobile tactical communications systems,” Minister Price said.
“The remaining phase of the project includes the development of the tactical communications prototype, which includes waveform, cryptography, satellite-enabled friendly-force tracking, radio and hardware manufacture."