News Review: Defence calls for new CTD proposals | ADM June 2011

Defence has invited proposals from Australian and NZ industry to participate in the 16th annual round of the Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) Program. The closing date for applications is 8 July.

The CTD Program aims to improve priority Defence capabilities by providing Australian and NZ industry with an opportunity to demonstrate their technology and enabling Defence to assess its potential and associated risks. Proposals need to address a Defence capability priority and demonstrate their potential within three years.

The program is funded by the DMO but administered by DSTO whose list of current areas of defence technology interest include (but are not limited to):

• Applications to support operational decision making
• Autonomous detection and neutralisation of underwater IEDs
• Battlefield energy generation, storage and reduction (in size and weight)
• Biometrics
• Collision avoidance technologies for smaller UAVs
• Counter-mine and IED detection and neutralisation
• Counter-underwater saboteur systems
• Distributed systems administration within Service Oriented Architectures
• Helicopter landing aid (brownout conditions)
• Individual soldier equipment weight reductions
• Innovative communications technologies and techniques including those in the space environment.
• High throughput/low time latency translation and gateway devices
• Innovative weapons and counter measures
• Launch and Recovery systems for UUV
• Lightweight armour for personnel and equipment
• Military platform signature management
• Miniaturization of platforms and components
• Micro terminals and mobile applications within the NC W domain
• Modelling and simulation to support acquisition, operations and planning, or network communications training
• Modular mission based payloads for multi-role Naval platforms
• Navigation/communications for autonomous land, sea and air vehicles
• Networking – architectures and systems integration for platforms and dismounted soldiers
• Networking of sensors, information and decision support systems
• Network Services Monitoring, Detection, Effectiveness, Situation Awareness, Security and Correction
• Non-lethal weapons and scalable effects
• Penetrating and low collateral damage warheads for current and planned precision munitions
• Platform survivability technologies
• Robotics and unmanned systems Sensors/weapons applicable to complex environments
• Situational awareness for small naval craft and for degraded visual environments
• Space situational awareness
• Tactical LIDAR
• Tools and Techniques for the management of Service Orientated Architectures
• Vehicle stabilisation technologies
• Wireless, low intercept tactical communication

Project funding is expected to commence in July 2012, although some companies may be funded for detailed proposal development or specific activities at an earlier date.