Analysis and Commentary


Defence’s tortoise or hare like progress to procurement?

Analysis and Commentary




By Peter Roberts

This week, did we see an example of the federal government’s new policies to link innovation more directly and speedily to eventual purchase?

Or was this the last gasp of Defence’s traditional glacial approach to procurement.

These questions loom large in Monday’s announcement that the government would invest over $100 million to boost the ADF’s arsenal of drones, buying the German Quantum-Systems Vector 2-in-1 and the Australian Sypaq Systems CorvoX (pictured).

Speeding the time taken from a defence need and an innovative idea to fielding a new weapon system has become an imperative given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

New systems arrive regularly, are countered by the adversary, and require ever more innovative systems.

Trouble is Australia’s defence procurement has typically taken a decade to move from idea to the field with extraordinary bureaucracy lying in wait between industry and the soldier.

This was recognised in the April, 2023 Defence Strategic Review leading to May, 2023 abolition of the Defence Innovation Hub and its replacement by an Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator.

Now, this week’s purchase of small uncrewed aerial systems (SUAS) was billed by the government as part of rapid acquisition.

The government said in its statement: “The two new SUAS will be delivered in 2025 as Defence continues expediting the acquisition of new drones while continuing to trial low-cost, expendable uncrewed and autonomous systems which are capable of production at scale and able to operate in contested warfighting environments.”

So the government is in ‘expediting’ mode. Or is it?

The Sypaq Corvo series of drones was developed through a Defence Innovation Hub Special Notice in April, 2018, in response to Army’s requirements for its future man-portable SUAS capability.

After successfully proving the concept, Corvo was selected by the Army for further development and capability demonstration in 2019.

Then in March 2022 SYPAQ submitted a more developed drone, the CorvoX system as a sovereign Australian solution for Land 129 Phase 4B, which was designed to deliver a man-portable SUAS for Army.

Fast forward to today and Defence has not actually got any new drones yet – they still have to be manufactured, and for that to happen items, some of them imported, have to be ordered, perhaps motors, electronics, lithium ion batteries and sensors.

Now the original Corvo was a simple drone made of waxed paper – is already being delivered to Ukraine in quantity, thanks to an earlier Australian aid package for Kiev.

CorvoX production would need to be ramped up, so say, a year before the $100 million arsenal is received?

Do we add time for training and integrating the drones into forces? Let’s say six months, because after all we are expediting things here.

So these systems might be fully operational by the end of 2025.

So that would be seven years since the original Defence Innovation Hub Special Notice. That is hardly expedited.

But then again, the latest order is a bit over two years since the Land 129 Phase 4B requirement was announced.

So it turns out that it will have either taken a long time – seven years – from idea to innovation, or – two to three years – from requirement to fielding these Australian drones.

What we can say is that Sypaq has benefitted from being inside the defence camp, being able to talk to the people who want to use the systems and being given cash along the way to help it develop a response.

What we can’t say is that the procurement problem has been solved.

Further reading:
ADF invests $100m in new drones
Shakeup announced of defence innovation

Picture: Defence/Sypaq Systems CorvoX



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