Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced a new $100 million assistance package for Ukraine, bringing the total Australian commitment so far to $880 million. However the decision, announced in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, has been immediately criticised as it continues a parsimonious support for the beleaguered country compared to other nations. Australia’s contribution is…
Communications and defence contractor Electro Optic Systems is to raise $35 million to cater for growth including purchasing long lead time items such as cannon for its in-demand remote weapons systems (RWS, pictured). There has been a surge of recent orders for its large and especially small RWS systems – these enable missiles, cannon and…
Engineers who once worked on Australia’s now grounded fleet of Taipan helicopters have volunteered to rebuild the aircraft for use by Ukraine rather than dispose of them by disassembly, according to media reports. Australia’s taipans have had a troubled history, never meeting defence performance criteria since their acquisition from 2007. However now they will be…
By Peter Roberts Cold cathode x-ray machine manufacturer Micro-X saw a strong uptick in sales in the September quarter, validating the company’s reorganisation and greater focus on sales and marketing. The company reported sales of $2.9 million in the September quarter, compared to total sales for FY23 of $3.8 million. Australian government sales necessary to…
DroneShield’s $10m share of big Ukraine order DroneShield has revealed its counterdrone equipment has been selected to deploy to Ukraine under the latest, $20 million Australian Government aid package. The company received multiple orders from the government with a total value to DroneShield of $10.4 million. $5 million of cash receipts from the $10.4 million…
Equipment from four leading Australian manufacturers is headed for Ukraine in a new $20 million aid package announced by the federal government. De-mining equipment, portable x-ray machines, a 3D metal printer, and counter drone systems from DroneShield, Micro-X, Minelab and SPEE3D are in the latest package. A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft has…
SPEE3D’s fast metal additive manufacturing printers have become the latest Australian defence equipment to be introduced to Ukraine to help it resist its invasion by Russia. According to a report in Forbes magazine, co-founder Steven Camilleri and staff just visited Jasionka, Poland, to train the Ukrainian military on 3D printing metal parts on demand and…
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company Skyborne Technologies’ Cerberus GHL drone is to be deployed in Ukraine according to reports in Murdoch media channels. Brisbane based Skyborne Technologies, which has been exhibiting the drone in European defence shows in recent weeks, will export its flagship Tri-Tilt rotor UAV. The company describes the Cerberus GHL as ‘the…
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has pledged a further 30 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles to Ukraine during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to a statement last night (Australian time), this takes the number of Bushmaster vehicles – built by Thales in Bendigo – pledged to 120. The total of military assistance from Australia since…
By Peter Roberts Defence, space and communications manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has beefed up its finances achieving a net cash balance of $42.2 million as at June 30 as it expands to cater for a raft of major new orders. On 30 June the Canberra company received a $17.2 million tax refund from the federal…
