The Australian Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) has entered into a collaboration agreement with local company Grollo Aerospace to improve the nation's air defence system.
The partnership will improve the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) capability with a cost-effective means to evaluate and test the performance of modern weapon systems to be fitted on ADF aircraft.
Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said that the Government was firmly 'committed to technology collaboration between Defence and industry to enhance ADF capability.'
Pyne said: “This collaboration will address the world-wide demand for an affordable means of evaluating the performance of weapons systems against modern threats.”
The partnership is also expected to improve the performance of Grollo’s autonomous supersonic aerial target, Evader, to maximise its utility for defence applications.
The autonomous air vehicle technology is said to replicate the flight characteristics of advanced airborne threats.
Grollo Aerospace is currently working towards a demonstration of the Evader target system in 2018.
Pyne added: “We’re keen that Australian companies, especially small and medium enterprises, have every opportunity to collaborate with Defence on meeting future capability needs.”
The Evader is equipped with an engine management system that controls engine performance and facilitates data acquisition of various parameters during flight.
Its programmable autopilot executes aircraft control, guidance, navigation, and initiates the recovery system at the conclusion of each flight, Grollo stated.
