Best of the week — the five most popular stories among @AuManufacturing’s readers

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading.

5) The Army can fire weapons autonomously, but should they?

The news was inevitable in a way, writes Peter Roberts. The Army has confirmed that it has fired a weapon system at a simulated enemy remotely from an autonomous uncrewed vehicle (see here for full details).

The confirmation came in a blandly worded post by the Australian Army on social media that included pictures of autonomous M113 armoured vehicles mounted with Electro Optic Systems remote weapon stations (pictured). The vehicles were converted to autonomous operation by BAE Systems Australia.

Defence media had been buzzing with news for days of the tests, which are a first for Australia, though not new for defence forces overseas where remotely operated drones have been in use for many years.

4) Take action now against non-compliant imports

Australian markets are being flooded with non-compliant products that threaten both consumers and manufacturers alike. Here Neil Clout argues that weak regulations, rarely enforced are eroding Australia’s industrial and skills base.

3) Thales proposes new Maritime Autonomy Collaboration Precinct

Thales Australia is developing a masterplan for the company’s Carrington site on the Newcastle foreshore to establish a sovereign Maritime Autonomy and SME Collaboration Precinct.

The Precinct, on the site which built and supports the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Huon class minehunter coastal (MHC) and mine warfare capability, will support Mine Countermeasures and Military Survey Capability SEA1905-1 programme, should Thales be selected.

Such a selection would inject more than $40 million in the local Hunter economy in New South Wales in the first five years, and create over 100 new jobs.

2) CSIRO among 2023 Boeing Supplier of the Year winners

The CSIRO has been named a Supplier of the Year by the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing, for the fifth time since 2010.

CSIRO had previously won at the 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2010 iterations of the supplier recognition program. This year it was one of 12 award winners — which were mainly from the United states — and took out the Pathfinder Award. (A full list of winners is reproduced below.)

The award recognises “use of new technologies or processes to create substantial new value within the Boeing supply chain”. According to a CSIRO profile on Boeing’s website the contribution recognised included “Research, innovation and commercialization of a range of technologies and services.”

1) Uncrewed autonomous vehicle in weapons fire test

The Australian Army has confirmed that it test fired a weapon system from an autonomous uncrewed armoured vehicle during exercises.

The Australian-first test firing was carried out by the Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation & Coordination Office (RICO) during a human-machine team demonstration at Puckapunyal, Victoria.

During the demonstration, RICO tested a range of emerging technology projects including drones, robots and optionally crewed combat vehicles fitted with remote weapon systems.

And in case you missed our podcast…

In episode 68 of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski, Dr Phil Fox, CTO at Eco Detection, and Lachlan McLaren, Project Manager at Grey Innovation, tell us about the company’s story, the many uses of electrophoresis, the need for a better-linked manufacturing community, and more.

Picture: credit Australian Army