AUSTRALIAN+NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE DIRECTORY 2026 www.defence.directory THE NATION BUILD 20 CAPABILITY BEFORE CONTRACT Australia’s ambition to build Sovereign Industrial Defence Capability is easier said than done. The messages within the Defence Strategic Review and the Defence Industry Development Strategy are clear; Australia must have the capacity to independently equip, supply, and sustain our forces. Our National Defence procurement group operates under strict procurement regulations founded on fairness in approach to market, cognition with respect to risk and capability and of course value for money. To succeed in Defence procurements, companies must demonstrate the experience and capability to get the job done. Understandably, in Defence, where procurements are routinely in the millions and tens of millions of dollars and performance is critical to the safety of the war fighter, reputation, trust, and a relevant record is paramount. But that is the challenge for companies’ new to Defence. How do small, sovereign Australian businesses prove their credentials without the opportunity to do the work? As the Founder and Managing Director of Advanced Design Technology (ADT), I have lived this paradox. Earning each and every opportunity took time, effort, commitment, money, and resilience. Our company was not backed with venture capital or a wealthy investor. We were self-funded. Our approach was therefore to build our capability from the ground up, partnering with customers who believed in our skills and were willing to share the risk. This editorial is a reflection on ADT’s journey so far, and a call to rethink how Australia fosters industrial capability. I established ADT with a simple and compelling mission, being to Engineer the Vision, Execute the Mission. Underpinned by this, we set out to build electronic warfare capability for Defence with speed, precision and innovation, all the time navigating a testing landscape where credibility had to be earned—through delivery, not promises. We invested in infrastructure, built a multidisciplinary team, and embedded engineering governance through a Digital Engineering approach—integrating tools, data, and processes to support rapid iteration and traceability. Our approach was designed to deliberately align to Defence’s Digital Engineering Strategy, aiming to accelerate capability acquisition through industry collaboration. ________________________________________ But the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) require competitive tendering and demonstrated capability before awarding contracts. Companies like ADT take the initiative, invest in capability, and deliver results—only to find that the (procurement) system often favours incumbents or waits for proof that can only come with support. As Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry, noted: “We need the right capabilities for our strategic circumstances. The government is investing billions in long-range strike and munitions industries’’— but these investments gravitate towards established players. The playing field is tilted in their favour. For small, emerging, sovereign Australian companies like ADT, the path is harder and less certain. A recent analysis from Future Forge put it bluntly: “War requires industry… but Australia finds itself deeply embedded in a globalised system with key components produced in far-off lands.” To change this, we must rethink how capability is recognised and supported. COVID showed us what happens when supply chains get disrupted, and Israel has shown us what happens when supply chains get infiltrated. These are not theoretical risks—they are operational realities. ________________________________________ But for those of you who are reading this and nodding your head in shared frustration, there is hope. In February 2025, ADT was awarded a contract under the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) to develop electronic warfare technologies as part of the AUKUS trilateral innovation initiative. This marks a turning point—not just for us, but for how Defence engages with small, emerging Australian companies. The AUKUS Electronic Warfare Innovation Challenge, launched by ASCA in March 2024 for the Australian component, was designed to surface innovative solutions from across Australia, the UK, and the US. It was a competitive, capability-first model that prioritised innovation, speed, and relevance over traditional procurement pathways. For companies like ours, it was the first time the system truly recognised the value of what we had built—before waiting for it to be proven through legacy contracts. ASCA’s approach is different. It acknowledges that capability can be co-developed, not just acquired. It creates space for companies that are willing to take risks, invest early, and move fast. It also reflects a growing understanding within Defence that strategic advantage comes not just from platforms, but from an ability to adapt and innovate at speed. For ADT, this was not just a win—it was validation. It showed that our model of self-funded, customer-partnered development could deliver real value. And it demonstrated that when Defence opens the door to new ways of working, Australian industry is ready to walk through it. Adrian Thearle Managing Director Advanced Design Technology
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