QinetiQ has a new research facility in Australia that will support defense initiatives under the 2024 National Defence Strategy and the Integrated Investment Program. Tanya Monro, Australia’s chief defense scientist, inaugurated the facility, called QinetiQ Labs, on Wednesday.
QinetiQ Chief Executive Australia Sector Gary Stewart said the facility’s establishment aims to strengthen collaborations and advance innovation to protect national security.
“The establishment of QLabs marks a significant milestone in our efforts to grow Australia’s sovereign industrial ecosystem,” he said. “It expands our niche software development and machine learning capabilities.”
QLabs features a software development environment and a flexible lab design to perform modern software engineering and enable rapid prototyping and testing of new and legacy technologies. It will also support the Defence Science and Technology Group’s Directed Energy Program in developing a high-energy laser capability.
In 2023, QinetiQ Australia won a $13 million contract from Defence Australia to manufacture a high-energy defensive laser system prototype in partnership with DSTG. QLabs’s role in that contract work will capitalize on the expertise of QinetiQ’s U.K.-based parent company, which is part of the DragonFire consortium that developed a British laser directed-energy weapon.
Other key defense programs the facility will participate in include research and development and program management for DSTG, trials management and support for the Joint Proof Experimental Unit, and the development of digital test and evaluation applications for the Australian Defence Force.