Five Australian defence technology ventures – Breaker Industries, Extag, Advent Atum, Ghost Fire Systems and Seitec – are celebrating the successful completion of a Defence Trailblazer advanced commercialisation program to accelerate sovereign defence capabilities.
Under the Trailblazer program, 14 Australian universities and 228 industry partners have co-invested a total of $1.02 billion to build new research capabilities and drive commercialisation outcomes at speed and scale, to accelerate Australia’s innovation agenda.
Defence Trailblazer has seen a strong start to 2025, with 35 industry-led projects contracted to fast-track the translation of defence research & development (R&D) activities, and 19 further projects in the pipeline. The projects involve 26 different industry partners and represent $135M of R&D activities aligned to Australian Defence requirements in areas of strategic priority.
GuardWare Australia and UNSW Sydney under the Defence Trailblazer has signed a $7 million collaboration agreement to develop technologies to improve Australia’s defence supply chain resilience by encrypting and controlling unstructured data shared in defence supply chains.
Universities and the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, are partnering up to share their unique capabilities in precision manufacturing through a $45 million partnership, made possible thanks to the Australian Government’s $370 million Trailblazer Universities Program.
Assistant Minister for Education, Anthony Chisholm visited the CSIRO’s Lab22 in Melbourne today to speak with the experts who have spearheaded the creation of the lab’s specialist equipment and highlight the importance of university and industry partnerships.
Defence Trailblazer, the University of Adelaide and Loughan Technology Group have signed a research project agreement to advance the development and commercialisation of Novel Fluorescence technology. The groundbreaking project aims to address significant challenges in the real-time field detection of hazardous materials, minerals, and chemicals.
Defence Trailblazer’s new Accelerating Sovereign Industrial Capabilities (ASIC) grant funding program will enable businesses to fast-track the translation of defence research & development (R&D) activities for the delivery of capabilities aligned to the new Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs). Up to $12 million in funding will be available.
A new Defence Trailblazer project brings together experts from the University of Adelaide and industry partner Cisco to develop cutting-edge technologies for secure military platforms.