$3.4 million in grants awarded to defence SMEs

Eight companies have been awarded a total of $3.4 million under the latest round of the Sovereign Industrial Capability Program.

The SICP offers between $50,000 and $1 million in dollar-matched funding to SMEs in defence, for companies contributing to local capabilities, and aims to build the capacity and resilience of Australian small-to-medium sized business.

The latest round sees assistance to ICT company Penten, rocket maker Gilmour Space Technologies and testing organisation Australian Performance Vehicles to test and evaluate new technologies.

Weld Australia was an example of what the program was helping enable, according to defence industry minister Melissa Price.

“It is bringing a welding accreditation to Australia, developing Australian supply chains for the Land 400 Phase 2 project and beyond, and ensuring we have the skills in Australia to deliver and sustain critical defence capabilities,” she said in a statement.

A full list of the round’s grants recipients is below (source: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/melissa-price/media-releases/australian-defence-industry-benefits-latest-batch-grants)

Picture: Weld Australia

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Company	Grant Amount	Grant Funding Purpose	State
Terra Schwartz	$421,432	Purchase of capital equipment and funding of direct labour costs to develop a 100% Australian sovereign cyber-worthiness system.	ACT
Profluid	$110,269	Purchase, integration and commission of specialised machinery required to establish sovereign capabilities for current shipbuilding programs and future sustainment needs.	WA
B.E. Switchcraft	$109,492	Purchase and commission of new capital equipment that will enable additional switchboard manufacturing work to be completed in-house and more efficiently.	SA
Amiga Engineering	$1,000,000	Fund factory improvements and purchase new capital equipment to continue the delivery of 3D printed Defence products.	VIC
Weld Australia	$89,400	Undertaking of the necessary training and activities to become qualified and accredited to deliver DIN2303 certification to the fusion welding of metallic materials.	NSW
Penten	$523,687	Construction of a secure facility fitted with supporting Information Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure.	ACT
Australian Performance Vehicles	$657,320	Expansion of current commercial testing services to support Australia’s Defence industry with specialist engineering, and test and evaluation services.	VIC
Gilmour Space Technologies	$553,819	Development of a large scale composite and metal alloy structural testing facility, with testing capabilities beyond the scope of existing facilities in Australia.