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If Australia is to achieve deterrence through a strategy of denial we need a whole new approach to innovation and production.
The ever-changing geopolitical threat and global uncertainty means Australia needs to embrace the development of new and novel technologies such as Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) and AI as quickly as possible. However, this is not happening at the rate of need as Defence and the broader industry are not set up to move at the pace required by today’s technology.
Anduril has been at the forefront of both capability acquisition and innovation programs in Defence through the successful Ghost Shark program. Drawing on lessons learned from this fast-moving RAS-AI development, we believe the following six lessons could be applied more broadly to the defence ecosystem and help drive Australia forward and protect our interests in this ever-changing threat landscape.
A close partnership between Defence and Industry is essential
Having Navy, DSTG and ASCA personnel embedded with Anduril in the Ghost Shark program has allowed deep and seamless information sharing and collaboration at all levels throughout the planning, development and testing phases. Indeed, it is hard for outsiders to tell who the Commonwealth members are, and who the Anduril members are in the program teams. This is a great indicator of a well-integrated high performing team. More programs need to look at how to create hybrid teams with strong collaboration so the goals and successes are shared.
Focus on achieving objective performance metrics, not fixed requirements
Traditionally, Defence has attempted to write detailed and voluminous requirements for new capabilities. However, for many leading-edge capabilities like RAS and AI, the rapid iteration makes it difficult for both Defence and industry to predict how these evolutionary technologies will be ultimately applied to solve future operational problems.
The Ghost Shark program avoided the delays and iteration lock-down caused by this ‘detailed requirements’ approach by collaboratively endorsing a shared set of threshold and objective key performance metrics between Anduril, Navy, and DSTG at the beginning of the program.
This flexible approach, acknowledging the pace of change and the innovation requirements of today’s technology allows for more freedom to adapt, iterate and ultimately develop a stronger product.
Industry should have ‘skin’ in the game
100% commitment from industry is vital for the success of any program, especially if the objective goals of the program are to be met, not just threshold goals. For commercial companies like Anduril, financial risk/reward is the strongest motivator – encouraging industry to commit its own investor/shareholder capital for co-investment with Defence is strongly recommended for cutting-edge development programs.
Plan for success
A primary concern for innovation projects is how to transition from innovation to production. Anduril recommends detailed planning and resource allocation for the transition from prototyping into at-scale production and introduction into service is conducted in parallel during the early phases of rapid development programs.
We design with scale production in mind from day 1. Industry needs to be thinking about the journey from prototype to production — not just producing a prototype that is then too difficult to produce at scale. Designing with the end goal in mind, embracing commercial manufacturing practices where relevant and iterating continuously means a prototype can move more rapidly to production when the time is right.
Production is much harder than prototyping
The transition from a prototyping system to a production system requires considerable resource allocation by both industry and Defence. Defence needs to commit to significant contractual outcomes when a prototyping program is successful if it wants to attract private sector investment.
Outdated suite of templates
Innovative, fast-moving development programs for continuously evolving technologies with Capability-as-a-Service (CaaS), often do not neatly fit into existing suites of templates, which are tailored for massive cost-plus defence procurements like submarines and frigates. Defence need to renew their stated focus on speed to capability and take a risk-based and collaborative approach to tailored contracting suites.
In conclusion, if Australia is to achieve deterrence through a strategy of denial, there needs to be a fundamental shift; from slowly acquiring and producing exquisite, crewed platforms and systems through billions of dollars of spending, to the creation, production and acquisition of a suite of modern, innovative, and fast-paced RAS and AI systems.
