Counter-UAS dominate Australian export success

February - March 2024 Edition | Australian Defence Magazine

As Australian defence industry awaits greater certainty in the domestic market after years of government reviews, a number of companies have found more success exporting their products to foreign customers.

The most recent ADM Top 40 Defence Contractors Survey, released in the December/January edition of ADM, also revealed Australia's twenty largest defence exporters by value. A number of these companies have seen significant jumps between 2022 and 2023, especially those with counter-UAS technologies.

Australia's largest defence exporter is ASDAM, a relatively new group formed from Marand, TAE Aerospace, Rosebank Engineering, Levett Engineering and the acquisition of RUAG Australia. The group is owned by CPE Capital, founded by former Austrade chief Bill Ferris and Joe Skrzynski, and operates across 20 locations in Australia and the US. It reported $173.02 million in exports in 2023; this is significantly higher than Australia's next largest defence exporter, Electro Optic Systems ($110.83 million).

ASDAM’s defence export strength comes from Marand's long-standing position as Australia's largest supplier to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, having pivoted its business from automotive supply to precision engineering for defence and other parallel industries such as rail and mining.

Counter-UAS Success

Yet it is Electro Optic Systems (EOS) who have been making many of Australia's defence export headlines. The company saw export revenue jump to 2023's $110 million figure from $93.61 million the year prior, and landed another opportunity in early 2024 with a $15 million contract to supply Slinger counter-drone systems to Diehl Defence in Germany.

The Slinger uses a Bushmaster M230LF 30 x 113mm cannon, 30mm RF proximity-fused HE fragmentation rounds, and high tech targeting radar and sighting systems to down moving drones beyond 800 metres. The company says that 85 per cent of component parts are sourced from Australian suppliers.

Importantly, the Slinger counter-drone system aims to destroy drones at costs between $155 and $1550 per engagement; hence the interest from the Ukrainian military, who must defend against Russia's waves of cheap Iranian-made Shahed drones.

"The contract with Diehl Defence represents yet another key milestone in the global success story of our Slinger counter-drone system, launched in early 2023," Dr Andreas Schwer, Chief Executive Officer for EOS, said when the contract was announced.

"Born from EOS innovation, with proprietary tracking technology, and shaped by real-world combat experiences, Slinger continues to evolve, drawing on ongoing lessons from the field. This contract is a testament to its growing relevance and effectiveness in today's rapidly changing defence landscape."

The systems will be integrated by Diehl Defence onto a lightweight 4x4 platform, providing a defensive capability to protect assets from drone attacks.

EOS' other recent export successes include $28 million to supply R600 Remote Weapon System (RWS) unit spares to a customer in Southeast Asia, though these will largely be manufactured in EOS facilities in the US. The company has partnered with NZ-based Cratos to broaden its reach across the Tasman, and reports that its Slinger system has also seen interest from Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

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