Five research projects have received a funding boost to deliver real-world technologies to address some of the Australian Department of Defence’s most challenging problems. The winning projects will receive up to AUSD 250,000 each over the next 18 months under the Queensland Defence Science Alliance’s (QDSA) 2024 Collaborative Research Grants (CRG). Additional co-funded investment associated with the projects brings the total combined value in this round of funding to more than AUSD 3 million.
The QDSA grant programme received 41 submissions from across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The winning projects include a partnership between Charles Darwin University, Griffith University, SAI Dynamics and Safran that aims to integrate long range cargo uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) into battlespace operating systems. The project will develop, test and trial the delivery of medical items over long-ranges using Australian-made UAS.
Another winning project, by Griffith and Charles Darwin universities and EPE, is for an autonomous littoral AI marine threat detection system. This capability integrates an uncrewed ground vehicle, remote electromagnetic sensors, and UAS into a self-contained mobile unit optimised for littoral detection of sub-surface objects, bathymetric changes and activity.
For more information
Department of Defence – Australia
Image: The medical delivery by cargo UAS team (QDSA)
