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With $748 million of Commonwealth funding allocated over the next four years, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator has now commenced operations, bringing together innovators from Defence, industry, and academia to accelerate Defence capability.
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The Accelerator was a recommendation of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) to enhance defence innovation and will be led by interim head Professor Emily Hilder.
ASCA’s first priority will be to engage with defence, science, and university networks, and subsequently host state-based industry forums, according to a release from Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy.
The Accelerator aims to bring together experts from across the defence ecosystem to lead targeted missions in response to problem statements, leveraging a range of expertise in a collaborative environment to deliver disruptive capabilities to Australia’s warfighters.
The Commonwealth has earmarked $3.4 billion for the Accelerator over the next decade, with $748 million over the next four years.
Minister Conroy’s office announced that this is $591 million over the planned expenditure.
“The Accelerator is up and running less than three months since the government received the Defence Strategic Review,” the Minister for Defence Industry said in a statement.
“It will unlock and ignite innovation from across the nation, bringing together the best experts from different sectors — driving change from within Defence to move at the pace and scale we need.
“This will mean faster acquisition and better links between Defence and industry to deliver the capabilities the soldiers, sailors, and aviators of the Australian Defence Force need.”
The government’s decision to develop ASCA was first revealed in May, when Minister Conroy unveiled the new government body to oversee the development of hypersonics, directed energy, autonomous and other technology for the Australian Defence Force.
According to the Commonwealth’s initial schedule, ASCA will have 18 months to develop, test, and refine the operating model.
The Defence Strategic Review unveiled on 24 April identified the creation and acquisition of disruptive new technologies as one of six priority areas for immediate action.
ASCA will replace the Defence Innovation Hub and Next Generation Technologies Fund, after both programs were identified as no longer fit-for-purpose by the DSR.
Minister Conroy said ASCA will deliver vital capabilities for the ADF, create jobs in the Australian defence industry, and support innovative domestic solutions.
“Our strategic circumstances require us to adapt our approach to innovation. The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator will lead the way in agile delivery of capability solutions to the Australian Defence Force,” he said.
“The government’s commitment to supporting innovation — in partnership with Australian industry and research organisations — is at the heart of our nation’s response to the challenges we face.”
