My Ship Yard: RAN DDL HMAS Kokoda Australian Coast Guard cutter Nemesis RAN FCPB HMAS Wollongong German SAR Launch DGzRS Berln SS Geest Atlas (Building)
Many of those who attended the Indo-Pacific Maritime Expo last year, where we were a popular exhibit, will recall seeing the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter VTOL drone, it was everywhere, having just won the RAN contract for a surveillance drone to be operated from the Hobart, Anzac and Arafura classes.
Well its just been very quietly announced that the contract, SEA 149 Phase 4 has been cancelled.
The company managing the entire project, Raytheon got the word from Defence last month.
Supposedly concerns over Chinese, Russian and Myanmar operating the S-100, and therefore an ability to tap into and potentially control the S-100 led the Government to can the project.
Don't know what happens now, the need is still there, but is the Government willing to still spend the money or is this another of the government's stealth funding cuts?
