Northrop Grumman [NOC] recently said it has delivered an automated biometric matching system (ABIS) to the Australian Defence Department for a pilot test as part of the department’s effort to develop a multimodal biometric database for the country’s armed forces.

The delivery “marks the start of a six-month trial during which biometric data will be collected, stored, matched and processed in accordance with existing legislative frameworks,” Samuel Abbate, vice president of defense enterprise solutions for Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector, said in a statement. “ABIS will be an important element in Australian Defence Forces capability to ensure identity dominance and assurance in the theater.”

The system delivered to Australia’s defense forces is modeled after an ABIS system that Northrop Grumman developed and delivered for the United States Defense Department. U.S. forces use the biometric database and matching capabilities to identify suspected terrorists and militants. The U.S. ABIS has fingerprint, face, iris and palm modalities.

The ABIS system for Australia was delivered under a one-year contract and will help their DoD test and develop techniques for producing biometrically enabled intelligence and to help determine requirements for a future biometrics information management solution, Northrop Grumman said.