Local companies involved in the first major project of a new initiative to speed up military capabilities claim it has been cancelled and mismanaged by Defence.
Under ASCA's "Mission 1", firms were last year invited to develop options to "penetrate and degrade advanced integrated air defence systems to enable long-range strike" and "improve the processing and synthesis of large amounts of intelligence data".An electrically powered drone able to travel almost 200 kilometres or loiter in the air for 30 minutes carrying a lethal payload will be brought into service by the Australian Army before the end of the year.
Numerous industry sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because defence has enforced strict confidentially rules, claimed some local companies had been "strung along for months" and the costly exercise would result in bankruptcies. Another industry figure who is not directly linked to the ASCA project described the "co-design" process as a "disaster" and predicted that "multiple Australian SMEs would be put into administration" because of the lack of investment and lack of certainty.
After the ABC contacted Defence last week about concerns over the process, ASCA contacted companies involved on Friday reminding them not to speak to the media or share details of the cancellation letters they received. The latest in autonomous marine technology has been showcased during secretive AUKUS exercises on the NSW south coast.