The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) opened a Request for Information (RFI) in March 2026, seeking new capabilities and innovations for Resilient Command and Control (RC2).
The RFI sought solutions that could solve any of the following Challenge Statements:
- Challenge Statement 1 – Operating in denied, degraded, intermittent and limited (DDIL) environments
- Challenge Statement 2 – Protecting and ensuring resilient command and control (C2) capabilities
- Challenge Statement 3 – Recovery of degraded C2 networks.
Milestones
On 5 August 2026, 14 organisations were invited to present their promising solutions at the ASCA Pitch Day 2026 – RC2 event to an esteemed judging panel and audience comprised of wider Defence stakeholders. The event was held at the Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) Summit 2026 in Adelaide.
Congratulations to the following Pitch Day 2026 prize winners.
| Prize | Pitch presenter and organisation | Pitch title |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation Award Winner | Dr Michael Hush, Q-CTRL | MagSLAM: Mapless quantum-enabled magnetic navigation for aerial ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions |
| Innovation Award Finalist | Associate Professor Alex Potanin, Australian National University and the University of New South Wales | Provably Secure Tactical Edge Command and Control Platform |
| Innovation Award Finalist | Dr Justin Wong, Forge Photonics | Cost-asymmetric Photonic Inertial Navigation |
| Best Presenter Award | Dr Shawn Goussous, Cueven | Trusted Sensor Assurance Resilient C2 |
A full list of all pitch presenters from the day, including the video recording, can be found on ASCA Pitch Day 2026 – RC2 event page.
Background
ASCA’s Pitch Days seek to provide industry and academia the opportunity to pitch their innovative technologies to senior Defence officials and members of the broader defence ecosystem.
The RFI opened on 10 March 2025, through AusTender – ASCA Pitch Day 2026 – RC2, and closed on 14 April 2026.
A virtual market briefing for industry and academia occurred on 17 March 2026.