Counter-drone systems such as the DroneSentry-X, built by Australian company DroneShield, will be key to the defence of bases and infrastructure in the future. Photo: DroneShield.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has used an industry conference in Brisbane to announce an additional investment in drone and counter-drone systems for the Australian Defence Force.
Speaking at the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane on 19 August, Mr Conroy described Australian small and medium-sized businesses – “including those in this room today” – as “the incubators of innovation”.
“To underscore that point, you don’t have to look any further than the drone and counter-drone space,” he said.
Mr Conroy highlighted the rapid proliferation of, and evolution in, drone warfare being seen in Ukraine as an example of a capability that has suddenly become “acutely relevant” to every defence force in every country, including Australia.
“It’s why we have accelerated the acquisition of an appropriate mix of drone and counter-drone capabilities and are continuing to examine new autonomous capabilities,” he said.
He said through the government’s 10-year Defence Integrated Investment Plan (IIP), it would invest heavily in the development and introduction of a range of airborne, surface, and submarine autonomous systems.
Apart from adding much-needed capabilities to the ADF, this investment would also strengthen Australia’s sovereign defence industry by driving innovation and partnerships with companies such as DroneShield, Sypaq Systems, AMSL Aero, Grabba Technologies and Boresight.
To that end, he announced that AMSL Aero, Grabba Technologies and Boresight had recently delivered 300 drones to the Australian Army, and that future orders were also planned. This comes just over 12 months after they were each awarded contracts of $2.2 million to boost production capacity and finalise development of prototypes to a production standard to make 100 drones.
“Now, these are small drones that are versatile and cost-effective platforms that provide near-real-time situational awareness at lower altitudes than larger surveillance alternatives,” Mr Conroy said, emphasising the government’s ”crawl, walk, run” approach.
These deliveries come on the back of the 2024 acquisition of Switchblade 300 precision loitering munitions and the impending announcement of a new capability for the army in the form of a sovereign medium-range precision loitering munition system that has been developed under Defence’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Mission Talon Strike initiative.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy described Australian small and medium-sized businesses as the incubators of innovation. Photo: ADF.
The big-ticket announcement came in the form of additional contracts being awarded under Defence’s Project LAND 156 Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft System (C-UAS) capability.
“In July, just four months after the announcement of Project LAND 156, the government issued an initial rolling wave of contracts worth $16.9 million,” Mr Conroy said.
“Since then, we have issued more contracts, now totalling $38.7 million, to 20 vendors, including 14 Australian companies.
“Under those contracts, and accelerated testing, at least 120 of the world’s most capable threat detectors and drone-defeating technologies will be rapidly introduced into use.”
Apart from these relatively small initial contracts, the government said, it had set aside $1.3 billion to acquire counter-drone capabilities over the next decade, with a further announcement to be made in the coming months.
These include the appointment of a Systems Integration Partner for the continuous delivery of counter-drone capability, the development of an integrated Command and Control capability, and additional counter-drone sensors and effectors designed to provide extra options to protect defence bases.
“But let me be clear – this is not just about defence bases and defence assets,” Mr Conroy said.
“Under LAND 156, there is also a minimum interoperability requirement to enable Defence counter-drone capabilities to be deployed to assist civil society.
“This means the ADF counter-drone capabilities would be able to be used at events such as the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.”
Under LAND 156, Defence will also adopt a continuous improvement and upgrade model to try to counter agile adoption of electronic warfare and other capabilities designed to disrupt counter-drone systems.
“In Ukraine, we’ve observed that when it comes to drones, the cycle of adaptation and counter-adaptation is around three to six months,” Mr Conroy said.
“So, through Project LAND 156, the ADF will continually upgrade and refresh capabilities to address emerging drone threats.
“This is a rolling effort, which means the investment doesn’t stop, the technology development cycle doesn’t stop, and Australian defence industry has the security of policy and funding to keep developing this technology.”
He said three “priceless assets” would lead this “uncrewed capability race”: the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group and its partners, ASCA through its accelerated development model, and the AUKUS Pillar II partnership construct with the UK and US.
Never has the rapid exploitation and development of drone and counter-drone systems been demonstrated more than when dozens of Ukrainian containerised drones attacked Russian bomber bases up to 3000 km away. Photo: Screenshot.
