Aquaterro, a 100% Australian owned supplier of soldier survivability & lethality equipment for over 30 years, continues to grow its organic capabilities. In addition to supply & onshore support for products, platforms, & systems, Aquaterro has proven expertise in soldier systems integration.
Though a somewhat ubiquitous term, detailed integration of soldier systems ensures that the soldier’s performance is enhanced, not encumbered, by their equipment. This level of integration is ensured by working closely with the soldiers who’ll be using the equipment, the engineers responsible for technical certification, the OEM of the equipment, and Aquaterro’s industrial design & engineering team, as well as our experienced SME’s.
This coherent approach to soldier systems integration balances the customer demands of innovation with configuration control with obsolescence management & operational supportability. Aquaterro’s contribution to this endeavour ranges from industrial design and materials technology, to engineering of a system, to technical inspection, & refurbishment.
Aquaterro’s design department is a multidisciplinary team with graduate & post graduate qualifications and many years of experience within the milieu of the Australian Department of Defence. Soldier systems, especially in the survivability & lethality system space, incorporating a mix of hardware & textile design capability, such as armour carriers, hard & soft armour inserts, head protection, NFE integration, packaging solutions, load carriage, & weapon systems.
30 years of experience, combined with a substantial, design & engineering team of professionals working in one of the Southern Hemisphere's largest Design Lab + Workshop + Testing Range + Manufacturing Facilities is central to Aquaterro’s unique value proposition.
Aquaterro has strong partnerships with world-class product suppliers. This combined with its ability to leverage its organic design, prototyping, & production capabilities means that GFE & legacy products can be incorporated into the soldier system ensemble alongside new technologies in a considered & balanced manner. This capability not only means that a soldier’s worn equipment works with the soldier, but also that other in-service equipment that is yet to reach its life of type can continue to be used.
Aquaterro has also been privileged to work with Diggerworks, the Department of Defence’s premiere soldier integration centre of excellence, since its inception. One increasingly important aspect of soldier performance is the correct equipping of female combatants. Aquaterro has worked closely with the Australian Army via Diggerworks to provide appropriately designed and tailored ballistic protection equipment solutions to address the unique anthropometric needs of the female combatant.
Before human-centred design was a popular concept, Aquaterro’s mission statement embodied it. Without the human (soldier), there is no soldier system. If you are wearing it or carrying it, Aquaterro has been trusted time and again for 30 years to solve integrated system ensemble challenges for uniformed professionals
As the Australian Army transitions more of its forces towards littoral operations, an increasing amount of individual soldier equipment will need to evolve from legacy equipment to maritime-optimised kit. Given Aquaterro began its support of the ADF in the early 1990’s providing flotation and hypothermia solutions to the Royal Australian Navy, this transition is an opportunity for both Army & Aquaterro to continue to support Australian soldiers with leading-edge equipment as part of an integrated, littoral, soldier system.