Electro Optic Systems

What It Is

Electro Optic Systems, known as EOS, builds remote weapon stations, laser weapons and counter-drone systems. It was founded in Canberra in 1983 and is still headquartered there, with operations in the United States, Europe, Singapore, the Middle East and New Zealand. Andreas Schwer is managing director and chief executive.

It runs two divisions. Defence Systems brings in almost all the revenue. Space Systems builds telescopes and laser tracking for watching objects in orbit.

Key Products

Remote weapon stations are the old core: turrets that let a crew aim and fire a gun from inside a vehicle, from the R150 up to the heavy-calibre R800. The lightweight Slinger is the counter-drone version, fitted to Australian Army Hawkei vehicles. Since 2025 the R800 has been built in Huntsville, Alabama.

Apollo is a 100-kilowatt laser weapon for shooting down drones. In August 2025 EOS signed a €71.4 million contract to supply one to the Netherlands, which it calls the first export contract for a laser of that class. A US$80 million laser contract with a South Korean customer, announced in December 2025, was still conditional at 30 June 2026.

NiDAR is command-and-control software that merges radar, camera and sonar tracks and directs jammers and interceptors against drones. It came with the purchase of MARSS, a British-based company whose defence business EOS bought in May 2026 for about A$51 million in cash, plus up to €140 million more if MARSS wins enough new orders by May 2027.

Business and Financial Position

EOS’s financial year is the calendar year. Revenue for 2025 was A$128.5 million, down 27%. In the first half of 2026 it reached A$168.8 million, with a statutory loss of A$33.7 million, most of it a non-cash revaluation of the MARSS earn-out. The company expects 2026 revenue of A$360 million to A$400 million, including MARSS.

The order book stood at A$846 million at 30 June 2026, of which 55% was in the Middle East. EOS sold its satellite communications business, EM Solutions, in early 2025. Washington H. Soul Pattinson, a long-standing shareholder with about 8.5% in May 2026, also lent it A$100 million in March 2026.

Where It Stands

MARSS turned EOS from a supplier of weapons into a company that designs whole counter-drone networks for governments. The first large test is Kuwait. On 9 October 2026 EOS announced a £370 million national counter-drone system for an unnamed Gulf government, the largest contract in its history; the UK Ministry of Defence named the buyer as Kuwait the same day.

That contract was conditional when announced, on a further £74 million bank guarantee and export licences. EOS has a record of lumpy revenue, and its 2025 sales fell before the 2026 rise. Most of its new business depends on one region.