Defence's new innovation, science and technology (IS&T) strategy will create the focus and scale required to give the ADF a capability edge and strategic surprise, according to Chief Defence Scientist Tanya Monro.
The Accelerating Asymmetric Advantage - Delivering More, Together strategy, launched at the recent Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit, sets out Defence's 10-year vision for harnessing IS&T to deliver credible, potent and future-ready technology to the ADF.
Professor Monro said the strategy, which balances the need to deliver innovation quickly with longer-term research into high-priority areas, had big aspirations to meet an urgent mission.
"It is a call to action not just for the ADF, but also to our IS&T leaders and workforce, to our vital academic and research institutions, to our sovereign industrial base, to businesses small and large, and to our future generation of innovators," she said.
At the heart of the strategy are Defence's six IS&T priorities: hypersonics, quantum technology, information warfare, directed energy, trusted autonomy and long-range fires.
It will also place a spotlight on the AUKUS Pillar II Advanced Capabilities priorities.
Professor Monro said collaboration and partnerships would underpin the strategy's success.
"It is through collaboration, new ideas and embracing new ways of doing business that we will create the asymmetric advantage and the sovereign technologies we need to deter threats to our national sovereignty," she said.
Four strategic objectives will guide the approach: contribute to the strategy of denial; generate asymmetric advantage; accelerate innovative solutions into capability; and grow the Defence IS&T ecosystem through strategic partnerships.
'It is through collaboration, new ideas and embracing new ways of doing business that we will create the asymmetric advantage and the sovereign technologies we need to deter threats to our national sovereignty.'
The objectives are arranged in four lines of effort:
- Anticipating the future by constantly scanning the horizon to inform targeted IS&T investments in emerging and disruptive technologies.
- Experimentation, which will guide the direction of the strategy, with the warfighter playing an integral role in shaping the way that will be employed.
- Building and sustaining a coordinated and collaborative ecosystem that is focused on delivering capabilities at speed.
- Focusing on short-term, targeted missions and longer-term challenges.
"Driven by ASCA (the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator), the short-term missions focus on rapid pull-through of technologies to minimum viable capability," Professor Monro said.
The new strategy evolves the science, technology and research programs (STaRShots) from the 2020 strategy, into STaRShots 2.0, mobilising Defence's IS&T ecosystem in response to its most challenging problems.
Individual STaRShots will be co-designed with military end-users from the outset to ensure they are aligned with Defence's strategic priorities.
"Through this reshaped program, Defence will invest in focused strategic research that develops the understanding of emerging technologies and how they could be integrated, used and countered in a Defence context," Professor Monro said.
The strategy will be refreshed every two years to align with the National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program.
