Defence Trailblazer fosters agility in R&D commercialisation – pushing concepts across the “valley of death” and into production. Over 80 per cent of Defence Trailblazer’s industry partners are small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and locally grown companies. In collaboration with industry, academic and defence partners, Defence Trailblazer is supporting 43 R&D projects with a further 9 projects in the pipeline aimed at accelerating the translation and commercialisation of leading-edge technologies and solutions to enhance Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.
The Defence Trailblazer Technology Development and Acceleration (TDA) program co-funds research & development (R&D) projects within key defence priority areas, helping industry partners fast-track their product commercialisation. TDA empowers businesses to drive innovation and build Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.
| Funding Leverage |
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| What can funding be used for? |
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| Areas of Focus | Project to be relevant to five key themes (aligned with AUKUS Pillar II)
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| Number of parties involved | Minimum of one industry partner and either AU or UNSW. Multi industry partners and/or both universities are permitted. |
| Organisation Type | Available for primes & SMEs |
| Desired TRL | Ideally TRL 6-8 at project completion, but lower TRL activities will be considered on a case-by-case basis |
| IP Arrangements | Variable |
| Contract Negotiations | Template terms and conditions discussed as part of project negotiations. |
| Potential linkages to other offerings | Potential to include/incorporate any of the Defence Trailblazer offerings |
| In-kind arrangements | Industry in-kind contributions are considered essential when evaluating project proposals. |
| Submission deadlines | Open-ended noting that all projects will need to be completed by December 2026. |
Through its Advanced Innovation Fund, the portfolio funds projects across the following five key priority areas aligned with the National Defence: Defence Strategic Review 2023.
Defence Trailblazer has updated its Priority Theme Roadmaps for 2025, highlighting the capabilities being developed across our programs and charting a path to meeting the Australian Defence Force’s sovereign capability requirements for the future.
The update to the Roadmaps reflects the critical capabilities identified in the 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS), the strategic objectives provided in the September 2024 Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy, and the AUKUS Pillar II Advanced Capabilities.
The Roadmaps are an evolving framework to help align the technology development activities in the Defence Trailblazer with the ADF’s priority needs. Defence Trailblazer’s Technology Development and Acceleration (TDA) portfolio funds projects across the following five capability areas (Priority Themes):
The refreshed Roadmaps detail Australia’s strategic situation and discuss the key connections and alignment with the Defence Trailblazer themes in detail. For each Priority Theme, a graphical Roadmap presents highlights of each of these information areas, providing an easily used summary to guide future activities.
“These Roadmaps are important tools for the Defence Trailblazer initiative, which aims to focus the efforts of our industry and academic partners as they strive to realise their programs of work within the best possible timeline,” said Dr Sanjay Mazumdar, Executive Director of Defence Trailblazer.
The development of these Roadmaps has involved engagement with Defence, industry and academic partners, both through one-on-one sessions and collective workshops. This feedback has been incorporated into the latest update.
It is envisaged that the Roadmaps will be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect future announcements regarding Defence capability priorities.
Defence Trailblazer partners are encouraged to read the Roadmaps before submitting an R&D project proposal.
To download the updated Defence Trailblazer Roadmap, please login to the Partner Portal and visit the Guidelines & Documents page.
Partner Portal - Guides & Documents
Defence Trailblazer is excited to launch its DINAMIC Innovation & Entrepreneurship program for 2026. After two successful cycles of DINAMIC, this year’s program will support a fresh cohort of innovators from academia, industry and Defence to pursue defence industry market opportunities.
HEO and UNSW Canberra Space researchers have partnered to perform Australia’s first Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) mission with an active propulsion system, supported by funding from Defence Trailblazer’s Advanced Innovation Fund.
QuantX Labs and Adelaide University researchers have successfully completed a collaborative research project that has delivered significant advances in optical clock technology and strengthened the pathway from university research to commercial, industry-ready solutions.
