Australia releases shortlist for acquisition of new Tactical Unmanned Aerial System

The RQ-7B Shadow 200. Photo c/o Australian DOD through ADBR.

The Australian Department of Defence (DOD) released the shortlist of proponents it is considering to supply a new Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (TUAS) to replace the Australian Army’s RQ-7B Shadow 200 system.

The project to acquire new TUAS is part of the LAND 129 Phase 3 project, which released an Invitation to Respond (ITR) to manufacturers in September 2019 . No specific quantity has been released by the MOD.

The four companies shortlisted were Insitu Pacific Pty Ltd, Leidos Australia, Ratheon Australia Pty Ltd, and Textron Systems Australia Pty Ltd.

After the shortlisting, the project is expected to proceed with the competitive evaluation and a more comprehensive tendering process before the Australian government decides by 2021.

The Australian Army’s RQ-7B Shadow 200(v1) is its first non-man-portable UAS in service, and were procured in 2010 and delivered in 2011. The UAS are operated by the 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment, and has been involved in support of Australian and coalition operations in Afghanistan and within Australia.

It was found that the RQ-7B Shadow 200 (v1) are getting obsolete due to a number of capability shortfalls, and a new system is needed to replace it and further improve in providing surveillance capabilities to the Australian Army’s combat capabilities.


[1] Australian Department of Defence 
[2] ADBR
[3] Australian Army