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Given Australia’s limited resources, Aquaterro’s CEO has proposed that it capitalise on the work done by its allies to boost its maritime, amphibious, and littoral operations for land force capability.
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Ahead of his panel session at the Defence Industry Development Strategy Summit 2024, Graeme Bulte said that rather than conceiving and inventing new combined arms land system capabilities, the domestic defence industry could explore whether its AUKUS and Five Eyes allies have already built these capabilities.
“The reinvention of the wheel is not a good use of Australia’s resources. We should be spending our money on first principles development,” Bulte told Defence Connect.
“Everyone in the world has got limited resources, which correspond with limited budgets and the size of their country and military. In Australia, we should be smart about what we do and how we do it. I think it would be remiss of us not to look at whether this capability exists elsewhere.”
When asked what investment is required to enable the Australian Defence Force to innovate so it can increase its combined armed land system capability, Bulte suggested it could be innovative to capitalise on the developments and engineering capabilities in allies like the US, the UK, and Canada.
If, however, the Australian Defence Force requires bespoke equipment or systems to meet specific requirements, then it could focus on building those capabilities, Bulte said.
“I would argue that those particular areas would not or should not be numerous,” he said.
“That would mean that we haven’t done the research to see what we already have that can operate in those newer environments or environments with a high priority.”
Bulte continued: “If that item of capability is reviewed in that new setting and is found to have shortcomings, then we need to ask if that item can be updated or adapted to work in that environment as well as the environment it was originally procured for. If the answer is yes, it’s the smartest way to move forward.”
On the other hand, if the item is not suited to that environment, the industry could investigate whether this problem has been solved by a close ally such as the US Army or Marine Corps, he said.
“The pathway from conception to rollout is years’ long. But if we see that somebody else has solved this previously, that could solve our problem. For me, innovation is taking a problem that didn’t previously have an existing solution anywhere, finding a solution, and putting that into practice. But those aren’t numerous.”
If there are no solutions to be found, that would require investment in domestic research and development capabilities at universities and organisations as well as the scientific, manufacturing, and engineering community to provide those capabilities, Bulte said.
Bulte will participate in an industry panel at the summit on building domestic and export opportunities through the sustainment and enhancement of the combined arms land system.
This is one of the seven Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIP) listed in the Defence Industry Develop Strategy document released by the government earlier this year.
Bulte said the Australian Defence Force and industry have been tasked with a “mighty responsibility” to transition to an integrated and focused force, and that it is the most significant change he has seen since the inception of his company 30 years ago.
He said there is renewed confidence and certainty because the strategy document alongside the Defence Strategy Review, National Defence Strategy (NDS), and Integrated Investment Program (IIP) have outlined the future direction of defence, provided integrated investment plans, and committed to individual combat equipment over the next decade.
“I think it offers lots of opportunities for medium and large medium businesses to deliver the products that they are subject matter experts in,” Bulte said.
“They can also support Defence for the engineering and project management themselves instead of some third party that knows nothing about this piece of technology charging a lot of money to do that.”
Aquaterro has increased its workforce by around 20 per cent in the past six to eight months in manufacturing (technical sewing, pattern making, quality management, computer numerical control machine, and laser cutting), product development and research and development (product design engineering, textile design and graphic design), and marketing and communications.
The company will move to a larger advanced textile manufacturing centre in a couple of weeks, Bulte concluded.
To hear more from Graeme Bulte about how the sustainment and enhancement of the combined arms land system could create domestic and export opportunities, come along to the Defence Industry Development Strategy Summit 2024.
It will be held on Tuesday, 6 August at The Fullerton Hotel, Sydney.
Click here to buy tickets and don’t miss out!
For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.
This summit is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at
