Following a global tender process, the Arkeus Hyperspectral Optical Radar (HSOR) has been selected to support the Australian Army’s Wide Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS) Program, enhancing the capability of its Tactical Uncrewed Aerial Systems.

MELBOURNE, November 5, 2025 – Arkeus, an Australian provider of AI-powered autonomous optical sensing systems for air, land and sea, today announced that its Hyperspectral Optical Radar (HSOR) technology has been selected to support the Australian Army’s Wide Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS) initiative. The down-selection followed a competitive process that assessed advanced sensing technologies from around the world.

HSOR is a wide-area, real-time hyperspectral Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensor, developed under successive Australian Defence contracts to address operational limitations in traditional EO/LWIR-based systems. In contrast to conventional optical payloads, HSOR provides persistent detection and classification across complex operational environments.

The WAAS initiative, led by the Land Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (LISREW) division within Army Headquarters, is focused on enhancing wide-area ISR coverage and decision superiority across the Australian Army’s Tactical Uncrewed Aerial Systems (TUAS). Integration of Arkeus’s hyperspectral sensing technology will enhance situational awareness and extend the operational effectiveness of Army’s TUAS, supporting reconnaissance, targeting and manoeuvre operations.

"Our customer needs capability that delivers an effect across challenging and degraded visual environments,” said Simon Olsen, CEO of Arkeus. “Throughout this process, HSOR has consistently demonstrated its ability to perform where conventional optical systems struggle. We are honoured to support the Australian Army in delivering a decisive ISR edge.”

The selection of Arkeus’s HSOR to support enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability to the Australian Army, builds on recent success with the US Department of War, where HSOR is being demonstrated in multiple operational contexts.

Arkeus is supported by Australia’s leading deep tech investment funds Main Sequence, Salus Ventures and Beaten Zone Ventures.

About Arkeus

Arkeus accelerates decision making through the fusion of optics and autonomy. Arkeus specialises in rapid design, innovation and fabrication of autonomous optical capabilities – designed to deliver transformative effects for Search, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (SISR).

Arkeus wide area autonomous optical search and surveillance systems are optimised for a range of missions including ISR, border protection, city size surveillance, force protection, counter terrorism, illegal activity monitoring or search and rescue – across land, sea and space – specialising in extracting critical intelligence and surveillance information and disseminating that data in challenging or contested environments.

For more information about Arkeus, visit www.arkeus.com.

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