Defence


$61.5 million for two projects announced under ASCA’s Mission Black Thorn

Defence




Two unnamed companies, one based in Adelaide and the other in Brisbane, have been awarded a combined $61.5 million in funding under the federal government’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Mission 1.

According to a statement from defence industry minister Pat Conroy on Wednesday, the move to the delivery phase of Mission 1 (named Black Thorn) will see each company continue rapid development of anti-integrated air and missile defence systems (IAMD.)

The ability to degrade IAMD systems at long-range is “a capability priority for the ADF in line with the National Defence Strategy”.

Few details were shared in the release on the two contracts, which run for 12 months. 

They were selected from among nine previous contractors selected to undertake a co-design effort in an open approach to market, originally announced in November 2023. 

The secrecy of the technologies under development and the companies involved was explained in terms of security sensitivity.

“We are proud to work with innovative Australian companies that play a critical role in developing technology that can give the ADF a capability edge over a much bigger and more powerful adversary,” added Conroy.

Picture: credit PTE Nicholas Marquis/ASCA

Further reading

ASCA seeks input to help co-design first mission projects



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