Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne has pledged his support for the local armed forces industry, awarding three Australian businesses defence contracts in an effort to shore up Australia’s military preparedness.

Three local manufacturers will be contracted to deliver specialist military hardware to the Australian Defence Forces: Aerospace and Mechanical Consulting Engineers Pty Ltd, Unmanned Aerial Systems Pty Ltd, and Defence Materials Technology Centre Limited, with a combined contract value of $1.24 million.

“The Defence Innovation Hub is supporting Australian industry throughout all development stages of the innovation process, from concept exploration and technology demonstration, through to prototyping and integrating capability demonstration and evaluation,” Minister Pyne said in a statement.

“Investing in Defence innovation will not only build the innovation capabilities of Australian industry and research organisations, it will also deliver innovative capability solutions for use by Defence.”

The Defence Innovation Hub expects to invest a total of $640 million until 2026 in maturing and furthering technologies – from early stage development through to manufacturing.

The Hub seeks innovation proposals from businesses aligned with six capability streams: Intelligence; Surveillance; Reconnaissance; Electronic Warfare; Space; and Cyber.

As outlined by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, The Defence Innovation Hub facilitates innovation activities from initial concept through to prototyping and integrated testing.

The Government will announce innovation priorities and any changes within these separate streams each financial year.