Further details surrounding the successful bid for a Small Attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (Type I) tender offered by Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) have been made public.
Although the winning bidder was not identified in the public announcement made by the Mod for the tender award on 12 May, ADM has revealed statements from official and non-official Japanese sources which indicate that Australian firm DefendTex’ Drone40 multi-modal UAV had been selected.
DefendTex declined to comment when approached by ADM for confirmation on the deal.
According to a recently released spreadsheet summary of March defence procurements published by Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA), the contract for the Small Attack UAV (Type I) tender, valued at ￥3.68 billion (approx. A $32.1 million), was awarded to Tokyo-based firm, Marumbeni Aerospace, on 26 March.
Marumbeni Aerospace is the Japanese sales agent and distributor for a number of foreign defence equipment providers’ products including Gulfstream Aerospace jets, Honeywell Sonobuoy Launchers, and British firm Chemring Sensors & Electrical Systems’ Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS).
There are no military drones listed on Marumbeni’s official website, nor any mention of a commercial relationship with DefendTex.
However, a partnered bid between DefendTex and Marumbeni in relation to the Small Attack UAV (Type I) was revealed in documents published online by former Greens Japan candidate and Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT) representative Koji Sugihara in mid-2024.
Koji, citing responses from an MoD representative to questions on the procurement, said that the MoD had signed a contract with Marumbeni on 29 March 2024 for demonstration tests of the Drone40 for ￥118 million (approx. A $1 million), along with a contract with Sojitz Aerospace Corporation for tests of Spanish firm Arquimea’s Q-SLAM-40 loitering system.
As early as mid-February this year Tokyo Shimbun, citing sources from ATLA, reported that Marumbeni had won a contract to supply Drone40 drones to the MoD, listing the exact same contract value as that eventually published in the ATLA spreadsheet.
The article further stated that the contract was for the provision of 310 drones to be provided in full by May 2027.
Foreign defence equipment providers regularly employ local agents to bid for Japanese tenders to navigate byzantine administrative requirements for bidders, as well as to tap into connections with local companies to meet offset requirements such as localising manufacturing.
Drone40 was first identified by official sources as the winning platform by Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Masoyashi Arai during a press conference convened prior to the official conclusion of the tender process on 24 February.
It is unclear why the MoD did not name either the winning company or drone type in the 12 May press release, and is still to confirm the selection of the Drone40.
ADM approached Marumbeni Aerospace for a statement in relation to the procurement and its partnership with Defendtex but is yet to have received a reply.