The Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) share price is edging higher during afternoon market trading. This comes after the defence contractor announced a successful demonstration of its C4 Edge program.
At the time of writing, the Electro Optic Systems share price is up 2.21% to $2.54.
What did the defence contractor announce?
In today's statement, Electro Optic Systems advised that the Australian Army-sponsored industry initiative, the C4 Edge program, has achieved a major milestone.
A battlegroup and below prototype demonstration took place at the Majura Field Firing Training Range in the ACT on Monday.
The demonstration involved a number of mounted, dismounted, and uninhabited platforms across a single network in a combat environment.
Electro Optic Systems said high-ranking Australian military commanders were in attendance to watch the test.
C4 Edge is a collaborative industry program involving 30 businesses. It aims to provide battle critical communications solutions for military operations on land.
This incorporates locally-sourced combat radios, satellite terminals, cryptography, networking middleware, command applications, user interfaces, batteries, and power management into a coherent system.
The government defence industry policy has sought greater emphasis on sovereign solutions. As such, the defence department's potential investment in all land C4 programs is estimated to exceed $5 billion over the next decade.
EOS defence systems Australia CEO, Matthew Jones, commented:
C4 EDGE as a demonstration of Australian industry capability has surpassed expectations – proving that it has the capacity, capability and will to deliver a C4 system that can meet the future needs of the Australian Army. C4 EDGE has delivered a roadmap for the development of the sovereign C4 eco-system including options to take the demonstration proof of concept through to commercial production.
Electro Optic Systems share price snapshot
It has been a difficult year for Electro Optic Systems shareholders, with the share price tumbling about 60%. The company's share price fell to a 52-week low of $2.28 this week before rebounding strongly.
Electro Optic Systems commands a market capitalisation of $381 million and has about 150.9 million shares on issue.
