Germany enquiries about EOS counter-drone systems, ADM reports

By Max Blenkin, Australian Defence Magazine

Australian defence and technology company Electro Optic Systems (EOS) has pitched multi-million dollar counter-drone and counter-space laser systems to visiting German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

In an event at the EOS Mount Stromlo, Canberra facility, EOS Chief Executive Officer Andreas Schwer presented Minister Pistorius with a pair of binding offers, one for the EOS Apollo 100kW high energy laser weapon for anti-drone warfare.

The other is for a high energy laser capability that can specifically disable optical satellite systems.

Schwer said EOS’ Atlas space control family of products offered unrivalled capabilities to dazzle or degrade, adversary space-based sensors, through to disabling satellites.

He said EOS was proposing a very aggressive price.

“It’s twice the power for half the price delivered in half the time and in this case, all made in Germany,” he told ADM.

EOS’ main rival for the German counter-drone capability is German defence giant Rheinmetall.

Minister Pistorius, accompanied by a German industrial delegation, is in Australia at the end of a trip through Asia, first visiting Japan and then Singapore.

In Australia, he held talks with Defence Minister Richard Marles and addressed the National Press Club. Today he meets Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy in Brisbane.

Schwer said Germany was especially interested in EOS’ “highly innovative technology” which was not available in Europe, particularly high energy laser weapons for anti-drone and anti-satellite warfare.

“They are going for big procurement programs and before they launch a program or make decisions, they want to see what we can do and potentially invite us to bid against European players,” he said.

“Those are multi-billion-dollar programs in each domain. We have a great chance of getting into those programs.

“So far we have established cooperation with the German government. We have sold them remote weapon systems (RWS), the R400 Slinger. They have donated those systems to Ukraine for protecting missile launching bases around Kiev against drone attacks.”

More recently EOS, was one of three companies short-listed to supply 4000 RWS for Germany.

“We have a great chance of making it. That is a huge, more than one billion Euro program which is one anchor point of the collaboration,” he said.

“Here the focus is on anti-drone warfare with a special focus on the laser weapon and on counter-space.”

Schwer said Germany had just released a new military space strategy which recognised that the German military lacked capabilities for engagement.

“Germany is concentrating so far on space domain awareness and intelligence but they have no means to protect their own assets in space,” he said.

EOS also has a new mobile solution called Atlas M/R, using a vehicle mounted laser and telescope able to engage satellites.

That will be officially unveiled at a German defence expo next March.

“Germany is probably the country which will first purchase those kind of systems. The German budget is very significant,” he said.