A digger’s development of rapidly deployable vehicle camouflage to better hide from drones has earned him a gold commendation.

Private Blaithe Gill-O’Connor, of 1st Armoured Regiment, was presented the commendation by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force Air Marshal Robert Chipman during the Defence Capability Symposium in Canberra on March 26.

Private Gill-O’Connor is prototyping a net system for armoured personnel carriers with assistance from MakerSpace and the Air Force Innovation Pipeline.

He wanted the net to be deployable by two soldiers in five minutes, compared with 15 to 20 minutes for a traditional net. 

“Think of it like those clamshell-design tents with the poles that fan open,” he said.

“It can also be taken down way quicker and doesn't require you to try to strip off every single bit of natural cam.”

The system is mounted to an armoured personnel carrier’s midpoint and uses thermal cam netting to better hide a vehicle’s heat signature from aerial threats.

Private Gill-O’Connor taught himself design fundamentals and computer-aided drawing (CAD) via the internet, and sought advice from Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) tradesmen.

The process started by researching basic shapes and structures that would support their own weight.

From there, he moved to a CAD system – Fusion 360 – to start designing the base mount. 

'It's great to see not only the work I've done, but the people that helped me get to this point – to see their work pay off as well.'

He took measurements for the vehicle and how far the design protruded over the top, as well as how it would pack down.

After some small-scale prototyping in wood to ensure the mechanism worked, he moved on to scrutinising different materials for construction – from steel to polymers.

All work was done in the RAAF Edinburgh Army MakerSpace with practical innovation process support and funding from the EDGY Air Force Innovation program, which provided $1000 to purchase materials. 

“I brought my initial design to them after I'd gone through a few stages. They really liked it and are really keen to see where it goes,” Private Gill-O’Connor said.

“Army and Air Force both believe in bottom-up innovation, and if you come to them with an idea and you've got a really good idea, they will enable you.”

EDGY program lead Wing Commander Kylie Cimen said the project demonstrated the success of the Army MakerSpace and EDGY collaboration.

“The trial at RAAF Edinburgh is an integrated approach, drawing on the strengths of the two programs to support a grassroots idea to become reality, all whilst developing Blaithe’s skills and confidence along the way,” she said.

Private Gill-O’Connor said the commendation made him realise how much work he had actually done, and was extremely proud of what he achieved. 

“It's great to see not only the work I've done, but the people that helped me get to this point – to see their work pay off as well. I wish I could have had them all there with me when I received it,” he said.