Laser focus: the company redefining anti-drone systems

Kieran Pender | Monocle

The future of warfare is being plotted in an unexpected location: a nondescript industrial park on the outskirts of Canberra. Electro Optic Systems (EOS) develops and manufactures military and space-related technology but in recent years has become known for its anti-drone systems. Its pre-eminent status in this nascent field has been underlined by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where more than 100 EOS products are in use every day.

In the early 2000s the US was the only military with high-quality drones. But the technology has since proliferated and its costs have plummeted. “You can spend $1,000 on a drone and attack an asset that costs $10m, $100m or even $1bn,” EOS’s CFO and COO, Clive Cuthell, tells The Monocle Minute. Dealing with one drone is hard enough but the low cost means that an enemy can now launch 1,000 drones at a time. Weighing fewer than 400kg, EOS’s Slinger anti-drone system has a radar and camera system that can detect and neutralise even the smallest drone – 200 are currently deployed in Ukraine, where they have proved highly effective.

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