Author: Trusted Autonomous SystemsPublished: 01/08/2022Category: Body of KnowledgeLast updated: 08/08/2022

Defence contexts for autonomous systems

Autonomous systems will play a crucial role in the future capability of the Australian Defence Force. This Body of Knowledge considers how the opportunity for partnerships between government, industry, and Defence will impact the trajectory of the approach to autonomous vessels and systems in Australia.

This includes:

• Defence’s strategic framework, and how it provides for future planning
• examining the kinds of technology that Defence and civilian industry are using, or planning to use, in Australia, and how this compares to international approaches
• the profile of industry using autonomous vessels and systems, and the manner in which Defence funding frameworks, and civilian innovation is allowing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to provide Defence with autonomous capability
• examining key practices and constraints for Defence and industry in using autonomous systems, including the role of government and Defence in driving additional innovation and investment by civilian firms,
• the current and future regulatory frameworks for autonomous systems used in civilian and defence contexts. This recognises that while there will be a level of separation between Defence and civilian regulatory frameworks, the nature of the Australian autonomy ecosystem, whereby Defence increasingly looks to industry for its capability, means that some shared principles and approaches to regulation will be key, and
• opportunities for meaningful partnerships between government, Defence and industry to more effectively engage and collaborate across these fronts, including strategic, regulatory, digital and physical infrastructure.

Defence Strategic Update

In the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, quickening military modernisation, emerging and disruptive technologies, and expanding cyber capabilities both in Australia and abroad are identified as key factors in the changing strategic environment that confront Australia and impact Defence planning.¹

Defence, like other military forces around the world, are variously seeking how to use autonomous technologies to “enhance, augment or replace” existing capability to achieve “overmatch” against adversaries.² The importance of future transport technologies, including robotic and autonomous systems, to the future force, can be seen in the way the Defence is considering, preparing, and planning for their use across the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Airforce and Australian Army.³ Examining Defence’s posture can provide important insights into future developments and government priorities for future technologies.

The use of ‘robotics and autonomous systems’ (RAS) is being incorporated into Defence plans and programs in the short, medium and long term, supported by significant investment. Defence has indicated that it will look for autonomous capability from civilian industry and explore the appropriate frameworks for regulation of transport technologies and AI for its approach to assurance and accreditation frameworks.

While some firms are already working directly with Defence to provide autonomous capability, it should also be highlighted that civilian industry has developed, or is in the process of developing, autonomous systems that have a range of non-military applications, but could be re-purposed for military missions and operations. This not only provides significant opportunities for civilian industry to innovate, invest and plan in relation to autonomous systems, but drive for government and Defence to consider what further strategic guidance, regulatory approaches and digital and physical infrastructure will be required. While Defence primes will play a significant role, there are clear openings for smaller ‘non-traditional’ SMEs.

Defence Strategy Framework “ensures Government direction on Defence strategy is provided across the Defence enterprise”, setting strategic direction for Defence to “deliver Government-directed outcomes”. Within the Framework sits the Defence Strategic Update, Defence White Paper, the Integrated Investment Program, the Defence Industry Policy Statement, the First Principles Review and the Defence Budget. The Defence Force, both jointly and through individual services, then develops its own strategic documents pursuant to its Corporate Plan that set out how it will deliver on the strategic direction provided by government. For example, each service has developed its own strategy for how it will support the strategic imperatives contained in the Defence Strategic Update, which then provides the basis for further strategic documents on how they will approach robotic and autonomous technologies. These sit within the context of joint force efforts to identify how robotic and autonomous systems will inform a “future joint operating concept.”.

Defence is still examining how RAS will be employed across the broader Force in an integrated manner. Defence has published a Joint Concept for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, which is intended to enable the ADF to test alternative theoretical models of capability and measure their effectiveness in supporting Defence Strategy…(and) to describe potential models of Joint Force capability that, following testing through Joint Experimentation will provide the justified confidence that enables investment decisions. Defence considers new models of capability when it identifies catalysts for change such as new strategic direction, changes in the operating environment or new threats and opportunities. The catalyst for this Joint Concept is the emergence of (RAS) technologies that represent both a threat and an opportunity for Defence. RAS have been utilised by Defence in one form or another for a number of decades but recent developments in Platforms, Payloads, Control Systems, Artificial Intelligence, and supporting technologies are converging to create more advanced and capable systems that will disrupt current methods of warfare. This concept determines how Defence will adopt the next generation of RAS technologies to embrace these opportunities and mitigate the challenge of the future operating environment.

Defence industry investment frameworks

There have been several steps taken to provide the strategic direction that is necessary to inform planning funding priorities and capability development across these areas, including:

• the Defence Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities, which set out the industrial capabilities that are critical to Defence and must be developed or supported by Australian industry. This means Australia must have access to, or control over the skills, technology, intellectual property, financial resources or infrastructure that underpin the Priorities. In 2021, the Priorities were updated to better support the “changing strategic environment” highlighted in the Defence Strategic Update and include new future-focussed areas, including robotics, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence; space; and information warfare and cyber capabilities
• More Together: Defence Science and Technology Strategy 2030, which provides guidance to ensure the national science and technology enterprise is strengthened and leveraged to address the strategic challenges Australia faces. It includes initiatives to direct resources to Defence’s most critical challenges and supports a more streamlined transition of promising technological concepts into capability
• continued funding for the Next Generation Technologies Fund and the Defence Innovation Hub. This will enable investment in potentially high payoff research and in relatively lower-risk incremental innovation developed from industry technology. This investment reinforces Defence’s commitment to stability and continued growth in the innovation sector.
• The Office of Defence Industry Support (ODIS) also supports Defence industry by acting as a trusted link for Australian small and medium enterprises looking to engage with Defence. These and
• a new Capability Acceleration Fund that will be introduced around 2025 to support the development of key disruptive technologies with industry beyond the early-stage research and demonstration stages, taking promising future technologies all the way through to acquisition.

To the extent that there is a map of Defence’s intended investment in future technologies, including autonomous transport technologies, industry can use it to identify where opportunities may exist to partner with Defence, or Defence-funded platforms and capability that may be available to or assist innovation and progress in the broader industry.

Defence and civilian industry: Similarities and differences

Consideration of the approach to RAS that Defence and industry are taking respectively involves several overlapping themes, in that both are experiencing many of the same shared issues, challenges, opportunities, and practices. At the same time, there are key differences in these trajectories.

Similarities between Defence and civilian approaches to autonomous systems

Key similarities between Defence and civilian industry in the way they are using, or planning to use, autonomous systems include:

• opportunities and benefits: the enhancements to safety, operational capability and sustainability that RAS offers are significant drivers for Defence and civilian stakeholders. Both are currently exploring how autonomous vessels and systems can be used most effectively
• technology being used now: the use of autonomous systems is not a future construct – they are being now across the maritime, air and land domains. As in civilian industries, the level of autonomy being adopted varies across Defence; however, it is increasingly using industry capability in this area to assist it to undertake functions traditionally performed by Defence, including hydrographic survey. This is fuelling further investment and capability development in civilian industry
• collaboration: there are clear industry led communities of practice emerging in the autonomy space in Australia, across domains, whereby designers, manufacturers, assurance organisations, technology firms and universities and government agencies are partnering to recognise opportunities and overcome challenges. Defence’s industry investment framework provides the opportunity for it to gain entry to these communities, and work with them to develop and refine systems to suits its own purposes
• AI guidelines and direction needed: both Defence and civilian firms have identified guidelines or standards for the performance of autonomous and remotely operated systems as essential to providing greater certainty in planning, building and operationalising autonomous systems safely and effectively, and
• testing facilities and areas crucial: similarly, digital and physical testing facilities will continue to be important to supporting development, planning and refinement of autonomous vessels and systems.

Differences between Defence and civilian approaches to autonomous systems

Equally, there are a number of key differences in the autonomy experience for civilian industries on the one hand, and Defence on the other. These include:

• strategic frameworks and direction: Defence in partnership with government is able to move ahead on planning, investment and application of RAS-AI on the strength of strategic plans and enablers. By contrast, the civilian industry involved in autonomous systems and transport technologies are diverse and in some areas lack the same ability, or coordinated industry representation, necessary to make coordinated, consistent representations to government in relation to strategic planning, infrastructure, regulatory and investment frameworks. However, this may in turn enable industry to be more nimble and flexible in its adoption of autonomous systems; whereas government strategic documents can take some time to develop, and can become quickly outdated due to the rapid progression of technological capability
• different regulatory schemes: autonomous systems in Defence, and autonomous systems for non-defence uses, are subject to different domestic and international regulatory frameworks. These frameworks are, in turn, at different stages in terms of adapting to deal with autonomous systems. Defence must also factor additional considerations into its approach that may not be as relevant to civilian industry, including around national intelligence, and Australian and international law regarding the use and deployment of certain kinds of weapons and weapons systems. This has important implications for designers, manufacturers and operators of transport technologies
• ethical considerations: the ethical implications and considerations associated with the use of autonomous systems has a heightened relevance for Defence in “employing and countering RAS-AI” that will likely impact the role humans will have in the use of RAS across Defence. Accordingly, there is a strong assumption that RAS will be employed in human-machine teams where “human commanders will determine the level of control that is applied to RAS, relevant to their mission and level of acceptable risk.”, and
• funding arrangements: parts of civilian industry are able to be more agile in the adoption and incorporation of autonomous vessels and systems into their operations and plans where self-sustaining markets present themselves. By contrast, large Defence programs to construct future air, land and maritime capabilities of the future may operate to limit Defence’s agility in terms of adopting or integrating new transport technologies.

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1. Department of Defence, “2020 Defence Strategic Update.” ↩
2. US Army, “Robotic and Autonomous Systems Strategy”; Uppal, “US Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Strategy for Gaining for Gaining Overmatch in Future High-Intensity Conflicts.” ↩
3. Royal Australian Navy, “RAS-AI Strategy 2040”; Australian Army, “Robotic & Autonomous Systems Strategy”; Australian Airforce, “Air Force Strategy.” ↩