Rapid Prototyping, Development & Evaluation (RPDE) is a Defence-Industry partnership whose mission is to accelerate the process of change and innovation within Defence to achieve a more effective warfighting capability. RPDE is a collaborative organisation where Defence, Industry and academia work come together to evaluate opportunities for capability enhancement and to develop and evaluate prototypes of concepts and solution options.
Experimentation, through the use of simulation and modelling, is the primary focus for RPDE's analytical activities. RPDE distinguishes itself from other analytical and experimentation entities such as the Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD) programme, DSTO and others in three key areas:
1. Collaboration.
RPDE draws on the knowledge, experience and toolsets (including models and synthetic environments) of a wide range of companies and organisations including Defence and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
2. Tempo.
RPDE evaluates concepts and delivers outputs related to a capability opportunity within 18-month timeframes.
3. Focus
on all Fundamental Inputs to Capability (FIC). RPDE does not focus on technology or equipment but considers the effects of, and impact on, training, support, command and management, support and personnel on opportunities for capability enhancement. Therefore the scope of simulation and modelling will encompass not only equipment and system performance, but other aspects such as human factors, logistics, through-life support and business processes.BAE Systems Australia's involvement with RPDE is significant. The current General Manager and Program Manager are BAE Systems Australia employees. The integrity assurance processes, including the simulation verification and validation framework, were developed by a team led by BAE Systems Australia and several of our staff have been involved since the organisation's growth through scoping study and establishment phases.
