Defence Trailblazer’s impact was on full display at the Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) 2026 summit, highlighting the significant impact of the Australian Government’s investment in sovereign defence capability, innovation, commercialisation and workforce development.
Ocius Technology and UNSW Canberra are collaborating to develop advanced mathematical modelling and autonomous control systems for the Bluebottle Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) fleet to optimise its performance and power usage.
Acacia Systems is advancing Onyx, its passive sonar automatic capability, to deliver enhanced tracking performance across a wider range of challenging acoustic environments.
The collaborative project with UNSW represents over 25 years of investment in research to develop a critical sovereign capability.
Dragonfly Thinking has delivered a Defence Trailblazer-supported project to advance the company’s Artificial Intelligence decision-support platform, in collaboration with Adelaide University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning.
DEWC Services is contributing to the development of Australia’s future Defence workforce through co-funding from Defence Trailblazer’s Workforce portfolio.
Two recent interns, Adelaide University computer science and engineering graduates Hard Patel and Matthew Fowler, have now transitioned from student placements to full time roles at DEWC, where they are delivering Defence-aligned work.
DEWC Services and Adelaide University have commenced a new research collaboration to advance sovereign AI-enabled decision-support capabilities for Australia’s Defence sector.
The project will develop an operationally relevant open architecture capability designed to support faster and more effective decision-making in contested environments.
Defence Trailblazer is actively working with our industry partners in support of the Australian Government transition to Net Zero, funding a range of projects to develop emissions-reducing technologies to accelerate Defence’s transition to clean energy set out in the Defence Future Energy Strategy. The projects will also bolster the advanced manufacturing sector – supporting the energy transition while maintaining economic competitiveness.
Australian ocean robotics company Hullbot has raised USD $10.6 million (AUD $16 million) to accelerate the global rollout of its autonomous ship-cleaning systems.