Defence orders more RAIDER target systems

Defence has ordered six additional RAIDER Mobile Moving Target Systems from Geelong’s Deakin University in a contract worth more than $1 million. According to the Minister for Defence Industry, The Hon. Melissa Price MP, the contract will also sustain 23 Australian SMEs.

The RAIDER system, developed by Deakin University and launched at Land Forces 2016, mimics tanks and light armoured vehicles as well as trailers and thermal targets. Minister Price said the RAIDER was a world-first system that provides the ADF with more realistic mobile target systems for combined arms live fire training.

The unmanned tug-operated unit was developed by Deakin’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI) which entered a partnership with multi-disciplinary engineering firm RCR in 2016 to help commercialise the technology.

RCR CEO Dr Paul Dalgleish said at the time, “RCR has the financial, marketing and manufacturing capacity to work with Deakin University to take these robotic target systems to the defence marketplace. RCR is proud to be a high-tech Australian engineering firm which designs and manufactures equipment locally. We train and employ our own people to be highly skilled to produce world class equipment.”

In a further strengthening of Deakin’s ongoing relationship with the ADF, the University recently appointed RAIDER’s designer, Professor Saeid Nahavandi, as the nation’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor for Defence Technologies