ASCA Advance Notice: AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025

Defence’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), in partnership with the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) in the United Kingdom and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in the United States, is providing advance notice of the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025.

This second AUKUS innovation challenge will have a focus on undersea communication and autonomy. Information on the challenge will be available by 31 March via AusTender.

The Maritime Innovation Challenge comes a year after the initial AUKUS innovation challenge which focussed on Electronic Warfare. The purpose of this challenge was to find low-cost, disposable, high volume and highly autonomous electromagnetic technology that can detect enemy actions or protect against them.

Some eight companies, three of them Australian – Advanced Design Technology, Inovor Technologies and Penten –  were selected to win contracts with their respective Departments of Defence as a result of the challenge. Two of the Australian winners won contracts worth more than $8 million, but Inovor Technologies has not been awarded a contract as yet under this AUKUS Innovation Challenge.