- Posted on 10 Mar 2026
- 3-minute read
Emerging technologies are enabling Defence to manage complex naval platforms more efficiently.
The University of Technology Sydney has secured a major contract as part of a Defence investment program to strengthen the Australian Defence Force’s decision-making capabilities through advanced digital technologies.
As part of the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) program delivered by Defence Science and Technology Group, UTS will receive just shy of $3.26 million – the largest allocation to a single lead university in this investment round.
The project brings together renowned artificial intelligence expertise from UTS’s Australian AI Institute (AAII) with trusted leaders in the naval sustainment space to improve readiness, resilience and operational integrity across the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet. It was facilitated by Marintec (the Maritime Institute of Technology), a strategic partnership between UTS and Navantia Australia.
Distinguished Professor CT Lin, Co-Director of the AAII and leading Chief Investigator of this project, said the research will use cutting-edge artificial intelligence to prioritise tasks and optimise resources in naval applications.
“Through this project, our goal is to leverage our experience and expertise in trusted human-AI teaming to help the Royal Australian Navy achieve a clear decision advantage,” said Professor Lin.
“By applying AI to prioritise sustainment tasks and optimise resource allocation, we aim to translate complex data into faster, more confident decisions that strengthen readiness and resilience across the fleet.”
Distinguished Professor CT Lin
Co-Director of the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute
Director of Marintec, Frank Jensen, said the funding supports Defence’s strategic focus on advanced capability and capacity to improve decision making in naval sustainment.
“Naval platforms are essentially sophisticated ecosystems. This project gives naval sustainment teams a real decision advantage by helping people and AI work side by side to make faster, better-informed decisions when it matters most,” Jensen said.
“By moving from reactive maintenance to predictive, real-time insight, this project will lift asset availability, cut sustainment costs and help keep critical platforms in operation.”
Advisory firm ARIA Solutions is supporting the project through deep naval sustainment expertise, helping translate the research into a deployable capability aligned with Navy’s Materiel Sustainment Agreements and Product Delivery Schedules.
Through the EDT program Decision Advantage Investment, Defence is looking to transform complex information into decisive action faster and with greater precision than adversaries. Decision Advantage is one of six key capability effects outlined in the 2024 National Defence Strategy.
This project gives naval sustainment teams a real decision advantage by helping people and AI work side by side to make faster, better-informed decisions when it matters most.
For Israel Lozano, Managing Director of Navantia Australia, the partnership with UTS reinforces the value of industry collaboration in applied research.
“Collaborating with academia is essential to delivering radical new real-world capability,” Lozano said. “Applied research is how we turn emerging technologies into practical solutions that address today’s operational and sustainment challenges.”
A joint research institute established by UTS and Navantia Australia in 2022, Marintec brings together academic and industry expertise in emerging digital technologies like AI, machine learning and autonomy to drive innovation in the maritime industry.
Backing this project is UTS’s AAII, which was founded in 2017 and earned UTS the title of top research institution for artificial intelligence in The Australian’s 2026 Research magazine. AAII is a leader in decision‑support systems, with applied research spanning Defence, Transport, and other public‑sector domains.
Through Marintec, AAII is working with Navantia Australia to translate this capability to deliver a tangible operational impact to the Royal Australian Navy.
A project to build new maritime technology using artificial intelligence to coordinate teams of robots has garnered more than $2 million in Australian Government funding.
Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that is much closer to natural intelligence than current methods. It significantly improves how AI systems learn and uncover patterns in data without human guidance.
Marintec is an industry-led joint research institute established by Navantia Australia and UTS that aims to develop digital technologies for the maritime industry and set a new standard for industry-university partnerships.
Unlike previous methods requiring invasive procedures or bulky MRI machines, this technology utilizes a cap to receive EEG signals, making it more practical for daily life.
A project to build new maritime technology using artificial intelligence to coordinate teams of robots has garnered more than $2 million in Australian Government funding.
Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that is much closer to natural intelligence than current methods. It significantly improves how AI systems learn and uncover patterns in data without human guidance.
Marintec is an industry-led joint research institute established by Navantia Australia and UTS that aims to develop digital technologies for the maritime industry and set a new standard for industry-university partnerships.
Unlike previous methods requiring invasive procedures or bulky MRI machines, this technology utilizes a cap to receive EEG signals, making it more practical for daily life.