The unit for Defence, Peace, Safety and Security spearheads the CSIR’s contribution to the safety and security of South Africa and the region, and the capabilities required for ‘smart defence’.  It operates in close accord – almost as ‘in-house’  science, engineering and technology capability for  the Department of Defence and other defence agencies.

The CSIR’s critical role in this domain is to operate as an independent, impartial advisor, creating new capabilities and concepts in defence and aeronautics, test and evaluate capabilities, review and roadmap future needs to ensure an effective, efficient and ready defence base.  To ensure this, the CSIR has a significant concentration of Research and Development systems engineers, world-class facilities, close and extensive local and international strategic and knowledge networks.

The CSIR’s contribution is not only through technology output for territorial safety: It is also driven to deliver technologies into the commercial domain for industrial development, and, importantly, to develop and grow the skills to continuously serve the country through science excellence.