The Australian Defence Force has been making a push towards more uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) acquisition this year – but there has been criticism directed at its long procurement periods and limited support for local industry. ADM sat down with Eric Peck, co-founder and CEO of Swoop Aero, to discuss ADF acquisitions in the space and the potential for local industry to be more heavily featured.
Peck is a former RAAF pilot who predominantly flew the C-130J-30 Hercules, an aircraft which ended up inspiring his future company, Swoop Aero. The company’s Kite platform, a 30kg UAS with a body modelled after the Hercules, can be used for a range of purposes – logistics, search and rescue, ISR, mapping, modelling and data collection – all in one platform and without a tool needed to change between them.
Swoop has not attempted to work with the ADF yet, a decision that was made from the start.
“The best way we could offer a capability to Defence was to have a commercially underpinned business,” Peck told ADM.
“We’ve built the technology as a multi-level capability from day one, but we wanted to grow substantially in the commercial market before we looked towards going for defence contracts.
“We didn't want to get caught up in a world where – if we’d developed as an early-stage company focused only on the defence market – that we would be dragged away from building world class technology, and ultimately wouldn't be able to provide Defence with the best capability.”
The problem with ADF acquisition
As fewer Defence contracts are up for offer, Australian primes and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) alike have had to reconsider their focus on a defence-based workforce. Only catering to a single client does not allow for every defence industry company to succeed, resulting in a pivot to other industries – or overseas.
“Most of our revenue is actually coming from organisations based in the United States - that market has been a large customer of ours for a range of services,” Peck added.
“I think everyone would agree now that the made in America market requirement is only going to increase over the next few years, so it will make sense for us to have the capability to produce locally, there.”
The issue is further exacerbated by money pouring into overseas acquisition, when Australian companies are convinced that the same technologies are available locally. The uncrewed systems industry is no different.
Peck mentioned the ADF’s past contracts with Schiebel Pacific for the S-100 Camcopter, and the Boeing Integrator and in early July, the government also announced that it had ordered Switchblade 300 loitering munitions from US company AeroVironment for the Australian Army.
Although he described this as “exciting”, Peck said the technology behind it is something that he's seen available locally - or could be readily and easily developed.
“Defence is spending money on acquiring second-rate technology overseas, that isn’t supporting local industry, and isn't the best technology for money – and it's not working,” he said.
The Ukrainian conflict has shown how effective drone technology can be against expensive cruise missiles, tanks, and defence systems – with innovative technology able to give an asymmetric advantage at a low cost.
Peck added that Defence procurement cycles need to accelerate, to match the rapidly changing technology landscape that comes with innovation warfare.
“A client on the ground knows what they need, but in the procurement program it's really hard, and that can get lost. There's a fear of taking a risk on something new, but ultimately you’re denying the operators the best technology,” he said.
“The risk aversion that the ADF has towards adopting new technology is actually going to cost us billions of dollars and put lives at risk on the battlefield – because we don’t have that competitive edge anymore.”
Local UAS investment
Investment into local uncrewed systems innovation by the ADF is not totally unheard of: Queensland-based Skyborne Technologies’ Gannet Glide Drone completed flight testing after a 24-month program sponsored by the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre and the Australian Army. The company said at the time that it aligned directly with the goals of the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) enterprise.
Victorian company DefendTex, which makes the D40 loitering munitions that have been used in Ukraine, has received a number of contracts through the former Defence Innovation Hub (now the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator).
Perth-based SME Innovaero has been developing the Owl loitering munition in partnership with BAE Systems Australia since 2022, which will be put into use this year by an Australian Army Special Operations Unit.
However, there are concerns that the amount of money being invested into these capabilities, and other potential technologies, is insufficient, and the process is still taking too long.
“There aren't many examples of a local company going from an innovation program to a broad scale procurement. It's good to see the ADF is starting to work on that, but more needs to be done, and it needs to be done faster to get the technology to market while it’s still relevant,” Peck explained.
Of particular note was the announcement that the government would invest $100 million to procure two new small uncrewed aerial systems (SUAS) for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
Sypaq System's CorvoX and Quantum-System's Vector 2-in-1 will be put into service from 2025, after being selected through the Land 129 Phase 4B competition. Corvo-X was also developed through Defence Innovation Hub and Australian Army contracts.
Defence is also planning to acquire SUAS through the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Sovereign UAS challenge, which has been in progress for the past year and offered development funding to ten local companies for a prototype.
“For us to develop a commercially ready SUAS that can fly over a city, it takes a really intelligent team, and millions of dollars to do that quickly,” Peck added.
“I think the work being done with ASCA is a positive step in the right direction, but we've also seen a number of innovation pathways to Defence close while they conduct a review.”
Looking forward
Peck thinks that the ideal drone technology for the Australian Defence Force should be a multi-role capability.
“The status quo in aviation is that you need a fighter, a transport, and a surveillance aircraft. Instead, I think what we want to be thinking about as a Defence force is how we can leverage one hardware set and have software to fix the other challenges so that we can do multiple things with a single piece of technology,” he said.
“A loitering munition can also be a loitering surveillance platform with just a slight change in the hardware and software.
“While it's great to say, okay let's invest in programs that have a really specific capability, the great thing about robotics is that we can have one piece of hardware do multiple things – having one physical product offer multiple capabilities for the ADF, and I think that's where we want to be focusing.”