Army drone program out to tender
The replacement of the Army’s Shadow 200 tactical unmanned aerial system (UAS) through project LAND 129 Phase 3 has progressed to the tendering process.
FILE PHOTO (September 2012): Aussies prepare an Australian Army Shadow 200 UAV for a mission at Tarin Not, Afghanistan. Photo by Brian Hartigan.
Four companies have been selected through an abbreviated invitation-to-register process and will be provided a detailed request for tender to further explore plans and conceptual integration designs.
The four selected companies are:
- Insitu Pacific Pty Ltd
- Leidos Australia
- Raytheon Australia Pty Ltd
- Textron Systems Australia Pty Ltd
Deputy Director Army UAS Projects Andrew McKinnon thanked Australian small businesses and participants in the invitation-to-register for their continued support of project LAND 129 Phase 3.
“There are a number of local companies already involved in the Australian Defence Force’s unmanned-systems space and these companies are encouraged to continue their engagement with the LAND 129 Phase 3 down-selected tenderers in order to deliver a world class capability,” Mr McKinnon said.
“Unmanned aerial systems are a key component of Army’s surveillance and reconnaissance capability, with some smaller unmanned systems recently being used on Operation Bushfire Assist.
“The next phase of the Project LAND 129 Phase 3 will focus on a competitive evaluation of more comprehensive tendered solutions from the four primes, before progressing the project to government consideration in 2021.”
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