XTEK is the preferred tenderer for Land 129 Phase 4 (Supply and Support of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems [SUAS]). The procurement of the system for Army remains conditional on the project achieving government approval at second pass and successful contract negotiations. Commercial-in-confidence contract negotiations involving a reduction in the scope of the initial supply are expected to commence shortly. The initial tender sought to purchase 78 SUAS, with a MOTS solution at system readiness level 8 or 9.

"Negotiations involving a reduction in the scope of the initial supply are expected to commence shortly."

The small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – typically less than 3 kilogram take-off weight – are capable of fully and semi-autonomous operation and the associated ground control and support systems will provide land-based tactical units with their own dedicated SUAS.

Aerovironment’s RQ-12 Wasp AE has been tested by the Army since June 2015 after Defence placed a $7.7 million trial procurement order via XTEK in December 2014. The Wasp AE weighs 1.3 kilograms, operates for up to 50 minutes at a range of up to five kilometres, and delivers live, streaming colour and infrared video from its pan-tilt-zoom Mantis i22 AE gimballed payload. Launched by hand and capable of landing on the ground or in fresh or salt water, the Wasp AE provides