Australian aerospace and defence company Electro Optic Systems has commenced commercial sales of its new 30 mm weapon systems aimed at the emerging market for increasing the firepower of armored infantry fighting vehicles.
Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne announced on December 1 the award of a contract to EOS for the upgrade of 45 units of EOS remote weapon systems to the new performance levels achieved by EOS. The weapons systems are installed on the Army's Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles.
This announcement brings to over 100 units the number of upgraded weapon systems which will be available for service with the ADF.
“This contract with Thales Australia is valued around $11.2 million and will see the upgrade of an additional 40 Protected Weapons Systems (PWS),” Minister Pyne said.
The PWS also comprises a vehicle integration kit designed by Thales Australia.
“The PWS is a fully integrated remote weapon and battlefield surveillance capability that has been used by Australian soldiers on operations since 2008," Minister Pyne said.
Responding to the contract award, Group CEO EOS Dr Ben Greene said the award by the Commonwealth is representative of the global market response EOS has received to its next-generation weapon system products.
“EOS customers are currently increasing funding allocations to allow orders to be placed with EOS for this major advance in weapon technology,”he said. “We expect contract awards to be made to EOS in the first half of 2017.”