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Federal government launches defence industry grants program for SMEs

The federal government has launched its annual grants program for Australian small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in delivering the pipeline of projects enhancing the capability of the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants program makes available a total of $17 million in grants per year to eligible Australian SMEs with fewer than 200 employees. A business can receive an unlimited number of grants over the life of the program, with a minimum value of $50,000 and the maximum value of $1 million and up to a total of $3 million over a three-year period.

The grants program is to support the government’s ten Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities for the ADF’s operational requirements, identified in the 2018 Defence Industrial Capability Plan.

The 10 initial Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities are the following:

  •  Collins Class Submarine maintenance and technology upgrade
  •  Continuous Shipbuilding Program (including rolling submarine acquisition)
  •  Land Combat Vehicle and technology upgrade
  •  Enhanced Active and Passive Phased Array Radar Capability
  •  Combat clothing survivability and signature reduction technologies
  •  Advanced signal processing capability in Electronic Warfare, Cyber and Information Security, and Signature Management technologies and operations
  •  Surveillance and intelligence data collection, analysis, dissemination and complex systems integration
  •  Test, evaluation, certification and systems assurance
  •  Munitions and small arms research, design, development and manufacture
  •  Aerospace platform deep maintenance

https://www.business.gov.au/centre-for-defence-industry-capability