F-35 Lightning debut – a new era of defence industry

Comment by Peter Roberts Australia’s first two F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft land at Williamtown RAAF base today marking a new era in defence-industry co-operation. After a fly past along the coast the F-35 Lightnings touch down at 10.00 am allowing Australians to glimpse the world’s most advanced aircraft, boasting an unprecedented level of Australian…

Eight grants to develop priority defence capabilities

Eight small to medium-sized businesses delivering priority capabilities for Defence will be assisted by federal government grants totalling $3.47 million. The Defence Global Competitiveness and Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grant programmes help Australian businesses boost manufacturing, harness their expertise and increase jobs. The latest recipients are: QPE Advanced Manufacturing (pictured) will receive $1 million to…

Sentient Vision to fall to foreign control in Shield AI takeover

Optical detection and video imagery company Sentient Vision Systems is to fall into overseas control with a takeover by California-based Shield AI. Sentient previously collaborated with Shield to develop a ViDAR-enabled wide area motion imagery (WAMI) solution called ‘Sentient Observer’, which will fly this year. ViDAR is Sentient’s AI system, which uses an Electro-Optic or…

Australian AI system developed for uncrewed vehicles

BAE Systems Australia and Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS) have completed a four-year research and demonstration programme developing an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that could be used in uncrewed ground vehicles (UGV). The companies developed the TAGVIEW (Trusted Autonomous Ground Vehicles in Electronic Warfare) system which allows multiple UGVs to operate simultaneously to carry out…

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme in operation Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme is now operating, providing consumers and businesses with a 10 cent refund for every eligible drink container they recycle. Eligible containers include most aluminium, glass, plastic and liquid paperboard (carton) containers which can be returned to refund points for payment. Refunds can be given as…

Search for CRC industry partners – Professor Colin Hall

Our editorial series on researchers led by UniSA’s search for companies to develop surface processing capabilities in a planned Surface Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (SMCRC), talks to Professor Colin Hall, industry professor at UniSA. It is no coincidence that a proposal to establish a new Surface Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre comes from an institution, and…