06 November 2020

Australia to establish directed-energy technology network

by Jon Grevatt

The Australian Department of Defence’s (DoD’s) research and development agency (R&D) is setting up a national network to focus on advancements in directed-energy technologies. The initiative was revealed in documents issued by the Australian government’s tender portal in late October.

According to the Request for Proposal (RFP), the DoD’s Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group will establish a ‘Science and Technology Network in Directed Energy Technologies and Systems’. The initiative, it added, will “identify and pursue niche directed-energy science and technology areas critical for future Australian defence capability”.

Australia is looking to set up a technology network to advance directed-energy capabilities such as the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system developed by Lockheed Martin. (Lockheed Martin)

Focus areas of the proposed network will be in areas related to high-energy laser (HEL) and high-power radio frequency/high-power microwave (HPRF/HPM) technologies. It is envisaged that the network will advance directed-energy concepts, technologies, techniques, and defence applications as well as approaches to hardware and software integration and related effects such as countermeasures.

The RFP seeks submissions from industry, academia, and government-funded organisations detailing proposed contributions to the directed-energy network. Such proposals, it said, should span multiyear timeframes.

“[The] DST Group have developed a range of world class HEL and HPRF technologies and is seeking Australian academia and industry involvement to complement these capabilities with new ideas, technologies, and system architectures,” said the tender.

The technology network itself will be aimed at consolidating directed-energy capabilities in Australia. The objective of the network, said the tender, is to build a “sustainable science and technology community of Australian academia and industry in directed energy technologies and systems”.

The Australian Department of Defence’s (DoD’s) research and development agency (R&D) is setting up a...

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