Press Conference, Melbourne

SUBJECTS: Announcement of counter-drone defence funding

AMANDA HOLT, SYPAQ MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO: As a wholly Australian-owned business, SYPAQ is proud to partner with the Australian Government and the Department of Defence to deliver trusted, sovereign and adaptive drone and counter-drone technologies to the ADF and our allies. Today we are pleased to be a part of the announcement which backs the Australian defence industrial base, accelerating innovation to deliver cutting-edge capabilities that are shaping the modern battle space. 

Working with ASCA through Mission Syracuse, SYPAQ is developing the next generation of our Corvo family of autonomous systems. Together we will deliver Corvo Strike, an interceptor drone and loitering munition capable of attacking air, ground, littoral and riverine threats which we’ve developed through our operationally proven capabilities currently deployed in battle spaces such as the Ukraine. 

Corvo Strike proudly delivers 100 per cent Australian designed, developed and manufactured sovereign capability, built right here in Melbourne by the young men and women who call SYPAQ part of home. We are proud of our local engineers, our technicians and our support staff who make sovereign capability a reality here each and every day. This allows us to continue to innovate our core technology and ensure enduring relevance in a rapidly evolving threat environment. 

We would like to thank Minister Conroy and Major General Hugh Meggitt for both being here today and their continued support to the Australian defence industry. Please join me in welcoming Minister Conroy. 

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Thanks Amanda, for having us here at SYPAQ, and I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet and pay my respects to elders past, present and future, and pay respects to any serving personnel here. 

Can I acknowledge that we’ve got representatives from SYPAQ, AIM and NIOA, three critical partners for the Australian Defence Force with us, as well as Major General Hugh Meggitt, Head of the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, or ASCA. 

Today we’re standing in front of what is the modern face of warfare, which is drones and drone defences. Anyone who has seen vision of the conflict in Ukraine or the current conflict in the Middle East understands the ability of drones and so-called asymmetric warfare to pose challenges for conventional military forces. And its incumbent upon the Australian Government to give the best equipment to the Australian Defence Force to defend our national interest and protect the Australian people. And that’s what we’re doing today through the announcement of the next stage of Project Syracuse. 

Project Syracuse is really the flagship for ASCA, and General Meggitt will talk about it more in a minute. But this is about really moving at speed to get equipment into the warfighters’ hands to protect Australians. And what we’re seeing here behind us would once be thought of in movies like Star Wars or in other science fiction. But this has arrived today. Star Wars is happening right now in Australia because of the great brains that are working at companies like SYPAQ and AIM. 

And so Project Syracuse is all about moving at speed, challenging the Australian industry to find solutions to help the ADF. Last year we went to market in the middle of the year and had 140 companies express interest in providing solutions to give real concrete drone defences for the Australian Defence Force, and we’re now announcing today $30 million worth of contracts to two Australian companies – SYPAQ and AIM – to deliver effects. And they’re really a fascinating mix of different options. 

SYPAQ through Corvo Strike is providing a quadcopter drone with a warhead attached to it to intercept other drones. And AIM, through that Fractl system, is using a laser. And that laser will be incredibly effective and accurate. The Fractl system will have the ability to target things as small as a 10-cent piece going 100 kilometres an hour and take them out. And that means protecting our warfighters, making sure that drones don’t get anywhere near them, and that’s incredibly important for the Australian Defence Force. 

Corvo Strike will have the ability to take down large drones like the Shahed that we’re seeing right now being deployed in both Ukraine and in the Middle East. And, importantly – because at the moment we’re seeing nations having to use $3 million missiles to take out a $100,000 drone – these systems can be deployed and cost tens of thousands of dollars to take out a $100,000 drone. So this is rebalancing that cost-benefit ratio in the interests of the Australian Defence Force. 

So Project Syracuse is moving at speed and it will be critical to the Australian Defence Force. Importantly, the whole model of ASCA is proving our capability and then having a project of record to feed these great technologies through to. And that’s why I’m announcing today that the National Defence Strategy that I and Richard Marles, the Deputy Prime Minister, released last week and the associated Integrated Investment Program [IIP], will more than double the funding that we are allocating to counter-drone defences. We're allocating around $7 billion to equip the Australian Defence Force with drone defences. That $7 billion will go to equipping the Australian Defence Force to defeat and counter drones, to make sure that the ADF can fulfil the missions that the elected government of the day gives them. 

That is a more than doubling of drone defences. That’s part of the $22 billion that we’ve allocated to drones, autonomous systems and drone defences within the IIP. So we’re more than doubling drone defences. We’re increasing our investment in drones and autonomous systems by 50 per cent. We’re doubling our missile defence funding as well as more than doubling our investment in Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance enterprise. So this is all about a Future Made in Australia where we have the best possible equipment made in this country to equip the Australian Defence Force and give us that sovereign capability and national independence that every Australian has made clear they want to see happen. 

So the future of modern warfare is behind us, standing right behind us now. What we’re seeing is not just in Star Wars movies; it’s being produced in Australia right now by skilled Australian technicians. And I want to thank them for what they’re doing. 

I’ll now hand over to Major General Meggitt to comment more about this announcement. 

MAJOR GENERAL HUGH MEGGITT: Thank you, Minister. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Can I thank SYPAQ for hosting and AIM for their attendance today. 

Ladies and gentlemen, ASCA’s mission is to accelerate the development and transition of asymmetric capabilities to the defence force through innovation in accordance with Defence priority needs. The National Defence Strategy makes really clear what many of those operational and Defence priority needs are, one of which is to get after asymmetric and autonomous systems that are prevalent on the modern battlefield. Mission Syracuse demonstrates ASCA’s getting after that capability in the form of an integrated counter UAS capability. 

The capabilities you see here today involve a kinetic effector from SYPAQ and a directed energy effector from AIM. These two systems are designed to work in concert to provide a layered effect to protect the soldiers, sailors and aviators that do the dirty, difficult and dangerous tasks on our behalf in a time of need. 

What it also demonstrates is the remarkable innovative capabilities that exist within Australia. These are two industries who are world leading in counter UAS technologies that we will integrate for and on behalf of LAND 156, the project to develop and deliver counter UAS effect for the joint force. 

Can I thank the Minister for the opportunity. Can I thank SYPAQ and AIM for demonstrating today, and I look forward to demonstrating these capabilities in the future. 

I’ll hand over to Jae from AIM. Thanks very much. 

JAE DANIEL, AIM CO-CEO AND CO-FOUNDER: On behalf of AIM Defence, I’d like to thank the Commonwealth and ASCA for the confidence they have placed in AIM. I’d also like to thank Amanda and the SYPAQ team for hosting us at this fantastic facility. 

Over the last five years AIM has worked closely with the innovation arm of Australian Defence to build a best-in-class laser capability. This includes contracts with Jericho, RICO and Defence Science and Technology Organisation. Over this time we have iterated and refined our technology with the warfighter in mind, and I can confidently say we have developed something that is best in class. 

Over the same period AIM has grown from a two-people start up to a 60-person organisation with world-class R&D capability and manufacturing space. Mission Syracuse will allow us to transform that capability into a mass manufacture. We are taking our fourth-generation fractal system and turning that into a feedable, deployable mass-produceable counter-drone system that can be put into the hands of the warfighter. 

I’m proud that we have been selected for this mission, and I thank the minister for the opportunity to deliver sovereign drone capability for Australia at pace. Thank you. 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, let’s open it up to questions about today’s announcement. If anyone has questions on other news of the day, I’ll do that at the end. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, you say up to $7 billion over 10 years. Firstly, how much of that will be in the first four years? And given that the Ukraine war has been going for four years, how much catch-up does Australia have to do with this sort of important technology?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, we’re obviously learning the lessons from warfare wherever it’s occurring, and Ukraine is the case for that. Importantly, I should point out SYPAQ’s success story is partially because they’ve been funded by the Australian Department of Defence to provide drones to Ukraine. And that has then informed their design of these counter-drone technologies. So we are learning the lessons from Ukraine. 

I was here two years ago announcing the largest single contract for Australian drone manufacturers at the time, which was $100 million for SYPAQ and a company in Brisbane called Quantum, and they’re on the verge of providing last deliveries for that contract. So this is about constant spiral development in this area. 

The turnaround times, if you talk to anyone who’s seen the conflict in Ukraine, the technology development cycle is moving at incredible rapidity, so you need to invest and you need to keep investing in spiral development. 

In terms of the $7 billion investment, the way we’ve structured these programs is through spiral development. So I announced LAND 156, which is one of the two projects that makes up the $7 billion, last year. We saw the initial fielding of capability at Cultana late last year, and I saw that capability being deployed. But it doesn’t stay still because technology is moving. So we’ve developed the brains through the Icarus system and then the goal is that this will be integrated into it over the next couple of years. 

So that funding – some of that funding is available in the forward estimates. Our $117 billion increase in Defence funding included $30 billion increase in the forward estimates. LAND 156, which is the project that this is aligned to, funding is flowing right now for that project. So this is not off in the never-never; this project is existing right now and funding capability being deployed right now. 

JOURNALIST: Do you see that $7 billion including investment in long-range drones? Do we need to do that? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, the $7 billion is for counter-drone capability, counter UAS. We’ve announced up to $15 billion for drones and autonomous systems. So that includes our funding for things like Ghost Bat, the first combat aircraft designed and made in Australia in 50 years. It includes funding for Ghost Shark and Blue Bottle, and we’ve indicated other capabilities to follow. There’s also a number of ASCA missions that are looking at what we can do to degrade opponents’ integrated air and missile defence. So this is part of a $22 billion funding envelope within the Integrated Investment Program’s $425 billion. 

JOURNALIST: So the question should have been: does Australia need to invest in something like the Shahed or [indistinct] drone? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, I’m not going to comment on that specifically because we’ve got a number of capabilities that are being developed right now that it’s not in the national interest to disclose. But I can assure Australians that we’ve got some of the most advanced drones and autonomous systems in the world across a range of capabilities. But for obvious reasons, we don’t disclose all of them. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, how many of those [indistinct]? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, the $30 million is for this phase of Project Syracuse, which is proving up the capability. The plan would be then to fund them into service through LAND 156. So at the moment – and I’ll invite Major General Meggitt to supplement my answer – this phase is about producing Corvo Strikes and the AIM Fractl system demonstrating an effect for the warfighter, and then for that to flow through the $7 billion funding allocated through LAND 156 and a directed energy program. So I’ll see if Major General Meggitt has anything to add. 

MAJOR GENERAL MEGGITT: Thanks, Minister. ASCA operate by looking at what the operational need is or requires, then develops through innovation and capability in concert with industry to offer that capability to the program of record to then subsequently procure. 

JOURNALIST: Major General, is it going to be hundreds or thousands of these drones? 

MAJOR GENERAL MEGGITT: It will be up to the program of record to procure. So what will happen is that we will innovate, integrate, demonstrate the capability and then offer that to the program of record as an opportunity to procure for that. The question is best posed to the program, but ultimately [indistinct] 

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct]. 

MAJOR GENERAL MEGGITT: Yes, there’s the Defence Industry Development Strategy, the DIDS, which accords the opportunity for Australia to develop the capability for and on behalf of Defence to be accorded to overseas markets. 

MINISTER CONROY: And that’s absolutely right. All the capabilities that we’re developing are options that we might consider for export. We lead the world in autonomous systems, both in the large scale and the small scale, and we’re open, subject to our stringent Defence export controls, to provide them to our allies and like-minded partners if they’re of assistance. 

But the breakthrough we’re talking about today is that these systems are cheap. And cheap but highly advanced. You don’t want to be in a position long term – and this is common sense – to have to fire $3 million missiles to take out a $100,000 drone. These systems are in the tens of thousands of dollars, and that’s the whole point of this. You want it to be more expensive for your opponent than you. This is what these systems come at. 

Any other questions about today’s announcement? We might ask everyone to exit so they don’t get caught in the political crossfire. Any questions about news of the day? It’s fine if there’s not. No, excellent. Thank you very much, everyone.

ENDS