Partners

Technology has always been integral to Defence. In fact, history is littered with examples of how disruptive technologies have changed the course of a battle.

DST Group has gone through an evolution over recent times but continues to deliver on its core mission of providing world leading science and technology advice to the Department of Defence.

The HF export business has grown into a $120 million program. Building on this strong base, it continues to fulfil customer requirements in both Australia and globally.

In many respects BAE Systems Australia is known for its platform business. But the company also has form when it comes to products.

For more than 65 years, BAE Systems Australia has been expanding its capabilities across multiple defence domains.

It could be argued that the success of any military endeavour rests on the shoulders of sustainment. Keeping aircraft in the sky, ships out at sea, vehicles on the battlefield: it all depends on efficiently repairing and maintaining those platforms.

There is a common thread looping through all these stories on BAE Systems Australia’s formation of Red Ochre Labs: cooperation with Australian universities and academics.

In September 2019, BAE Systems Australia announced that it was working alongside the Australian Army to convert two M113 armoured personnel carriers into autonomous vehicles.

As part of the National Shipbuilding Plan, BAE Systems’ Hunter class (based on the Global Combat Ship that both the UK and Canada have also chosen) design is on track to hit some key milestones this year.

The story of High Frequency (HF) systems in BAE Systems Australia starts in the continent’s red centre, for which Red Ochre Labs is named.

The possibility of vehicles travelling at over five times the speed of sound – that’s Melbourne to Adelaide in six minutes – tends to be seen as the holy grail of defence industry R&D.

Autonomy: self-governing, freedom of action, independence of thought. These are the definitions returned by a quick Google search. They’re small phrases, but they contain enormous challenges.

BAE Systems is another major contributor to SA’s growing space economy.