The Australian government is pushing for local production of surveillance drones to make its military less reliant on imported Chinese technologies.
A request for information was recently issued to local defense firms and research institutions regarding a sovereign, military-grade unmanned aerial system (UAS).
The drone will specifically help monitor Australia’s strategic locations and will not be armed with any weapons.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said that the country lags far behind in using indigenous systems for air defense and surveillance.
“We seem to be trailing the rest of the world,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “Australia will never have the biggest army in the world, so this type of unmanned technology is exactly what we need to be investing in.”
Security Concerns
Australia’s move to boost local production of military drones comes after the Australian Defence Force announced it is curbing its extensive use of UAS made by Chinese tech giant DJI due to security concerns.
The government was reportedly using over 3,000 Chinese-made drones that utilized technologies such as cameras, batteries, and gimbals.
These Chinese-made components have been blacklisted in the US for their alleged link to Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army.
“The fact we don’t have a sovereign UAS capability and rely on other countries, particularly DJI drones from China, makes us vulnerable to supply chain disruptions,” Conroy explained.
‘Mature Drone Ecosystem’
The Australian founder of a commercial drone manufacturer, Dario Valenza, said he was glad that the government is addressing its “massive” reliance on Chinese-made systems.
He stated that Canberra has always had a very mature drone ecosystem, but it is only being used for commercial purposes.
“In our case, we supply friendly overseas militaries like the US but we’ve had very little indication of the path to become a supplier for the Australian military … Until now, there didn’t seem to really be a coherent strategy,” he stressed.
He added that drones are playing crucial roles for militaries, from intelligence-gathering to small payload delivery.
