Innovation day showcases new capabilities

Today the Australian Army hosted its fourth consecutive annual Innovation Day at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.

The theme for this year’s event was ‘Novel Weapons and Novel Effects’.

This year’s event comprised 19 companies from Australia, the United States, Europe and Israel presenting 25 industry proposals.

The Australian Army’s Head of Land Capability Major General Kathryn Toohey, AM, CSC said the event was an important demonstration of the cooperation between Defence and industry.

“Army Innovation Day is an opportunity for industry to present capability options that can shape Army’s approach to novel weapons and novel effects in a combined arms team in a joint environment,” Major General Toohey said.

“Throughout the course of today we have explored a range of new technologies including drone and counter drone systems, weapon and ammunition enhancements, electronic counter measures and electronic warfare, and simulation systems.”

Major General Toohey said many of the products will go through the Army’s short-cycle nomination, selection, demonstration and assessment process.

“The Army Innovation Day cycle is designed to get leading edge technology into the hands of soldiers within 12 months,” Major General Toohey said.

“Some of the new innovative technology on display will progress to further testing and user evaluation by our soldiers in Army units.”

Army has issued contracts for user evaluations to 21 companies that have presented at the previous Army Innovation Day events. This is a prime opportunity for businesses that may not have experience in working with Defence or have products developed for other markets.


Media Note
Imagery from Army Innovation Day 2017 is available at https://images.defence.gov.au/S20172747