Certainly approval by Defence will be a fantastic boon for SMX....

Certainly approval by Defence will be a fantastic boon for SMX. However, it is unlikely to come quickly because the evaluation will be thorough.

I don't know exactly which approval is being sought but one such program is called AISEP - The Australasian Information Security Evaluation Program from the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD). I have NO information that this is the program under which SMX is being evaluated, so this is provided just for general interest to give an idea of what some Defence processes entail.

AISEP information:
http://www.dsd.gov.au/infosec/evaluation_services/aisep_pages/aisep.html

List of approved products:
http://www.dsd.gov.au/infosec/evaluation_services/epl/epl.html

The following document was released by the Parliament of Australia House Committee:

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jpaa/electronic_info/chapter7.pdf

Interesting quotes:
"7.3.1 As an example, DSD said that for a simple product with a low assurance evaluation and no cryptographic functions, the task could be completed in a few months and cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. In contrast, a
higher assurance evaluation of a more complex product (such as an operating system) can take years and cost millions of dollars."

"7.3.4 Optus said that ‘… as soon as any changes occur to that hardware or software … you are either living with an older technology … or you are forcing the manufacturer to go through the same process again of spending in the order of half a million dollars to $1 million, plus six to 12
months going through the approval process.’