Army Innovation Day is a yearly event where Army poses a challenge theme to industry, designed to encourage development of innovative technology that can solve complex problems. At this event, Tenderers exhibit their proposed innovation concepts. To appear at this event, Army opens a Call for Submission (CFS), and then a Request for Proposal (RFP). After reviewal, successful applicants can exhibit their technologies at this event.

Army has released the first stage of the tender, a CFS seeking innovative solutions that align with the theme for 2024, designed to enhance the endurance, lethality, and survivability of soldiers in complex regional and littoral environments. This is the first stage of this evaluation process, which will be followed by a request for proposal (RFP).

Army has outlined three thematic areas for innovation.

• Theme 1 – Enhanced Operational Endurance. In this theme army seeks innovations emphasising:
  • Individual and unit-level power and data management solutions.
  • Individual equipment and technologies that reduce the probability of non-battle and/or environmental casualties.
• Theme 2 – Enhanced Tactical Lethality. In this theme, army seeks portable cross-domain-capable kinetic effectors, with the ability to deny and disrupt adversary freedom of movement in the littoral environment, emphasising:
  • Land domain lethality with ranges from 2 to 4 kilometres.
  • Low cost, scalable, optically guided systems that can integrate and deliver high explosive ordnance.
• Theme 3 – Enhanced tactical survivability. In this theme army seeks innovations to enhance the survivability of soldiers, emphasising:
  • Signature managements solutions across visible, near infrared, and infrared spectra, which can be work by soldiers and/or adapted to conceal mission essential equipment and weapons in the littoral environment.

Key challenge requirements for all themes are deployability, employability, all weather capable, day and night capability, safety, detectability, and interfaces.

Army has a preference towards a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for the challenge. The proposed technology should be able to be developed towards TRL 8 (System incorporated in commercial design). However, Army is not seeking submissions that are already TRL 9 (System proven and ready for full commercial deployment) or commercial off the shelf solutions without consideration of a development pathway to meet the challenge context.

The closing time and date for responses will remain open until the 13 June 2024. 

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