Babcock Australasia says it is looking to adopt innovative technologies developed and manufactured in Australia for its response to the Australian Army’s Project LAND 125 Phase 4 Integrated Soldier System (ISS) requirement.

Phase 4 is an element of the wider Project Wundurra Dismounted Combat Program (DCP) which is seeking a range of capabilities to modernise the ADF’s dismounted combat capability. These include four of the five NATO dismounted soldier functions – situational awareness, survivability, mobility, sustainability, and training and education / human performance.

Originally approved by Government in September 2018, equipment to be procured under Phase 4 includes body armour, helmets, hearing and eye protection and load carriage equipment, and field equipment like water purifiers, helmet torches, storage bags, cooking gear, and sleeping bags. Future requirements will look at equipment such as hand-held translators, miniature UAS, exoskeletons, and autonomous support systems.

The Commonwealth is seeing to establish a collaborative relationship with industry on the project, with industry to be a prime vendor to deliver the ISS, and then provide ongoing through-life modernisation, acquisition, and support services. An invitation to attend industry briefings was issued in May 2020 and closed in July, and Babcock announced in August its intent to respond to a tender for the requirement.

“Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and training providers are integral to Babcock’s proposed solution, with over 40% of the project’s requirements able to be either designed or manufactured in Australia,” Babcock Australasia’s Executive Director – Strategy and Future Business, Graeme Nayler said in a release.

Babcock says it has introduced a digital development environment as part of its solution in order to better enable the integration of products from different providers. It says this digital environment will reduce development costs during the ISS’s design and integration.

“Babcock has approached LAND125 Phase 4 in an innovative way that is beneficial for Defence, looking at ‘best of breed’ products and enabling Australian SMEs to integrate their world-leading product into the ISS for an optimal cost,” Naylor added.

“By designing and configuring the solution in virtual reality, Babcock’s approach will also ensure development cost savings across the complete ISS design and integration. This will enable us to ‘mix and match’ equipment from different suppliers, to visualise and explore the impacts on the overall integrated system.”