More than $17 million has been allocated to 44 Australian businesses in the latest rounds of the Defence Industry Development Grants (DIDG) program.
This new round brings the current total grant allocation to more than $51 million awarded through the program to date across four delivery streams: Exports, Skilling, Security and Sovereign Industrial Priorities.
The DIDG program represents a total investment of $170 million. This demonstrates Australia's commitment to expanding and modernising our sovereign defence industrial base - a key priority of the Defence Industry Development Strategy and National Defence Strategy.
Through the program, defence industry businesses across the country will expand export opportunities and improve global competitiveness. They will strengthen cyber, physical and personnel security to meet Defence standards and deliver technical training to grow Australia's skilled defence workforce.
This latest round of grants will also continue to drive investment in advanced manufacturing; aligned with sovereign defence priorities such as submarines, aerospace, guided weapons, explosive ordnance and advanced technologies.
The grants include eight projects funded by the Australian Submarine Agency, totalling $2.9 million; to support the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program. This will help build a strong, sovereign submarine enterprise, critical for Australia's National Defence in the decades to come.
The DIDG program continues to provide matching grants of up to 50 per cent to eligible Australian defence suppliers, with applications open year-round until 2028.
