Unique technology by South Australian-based Acacia Systems will contribute to the work on cutting-edge counter-drone capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) under the Australian Government’s $1.3 billion LAND 156 program.

Acacia Systems, located at Hendon, is a long-standing partner of Leidos Australia which was this week awarded a $45.9 million contract as the LAND 156 Systems Integration Partner , tasked to acquire and deliver Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft System capability.

As part of the Leidos Australia-led consortium, Acacia Systems will contribute one of its flagship Australian-made products, the Cortex Mission Management System, to the ADF for a project to demonstrate a progressive, agile minimum viable counter-drone capability by December this year.

The project will demonstrate a range of Australian tech including Cortex as the sovereign command-and-control capability that integrates effector systems from EOS Defence Systems and Department 13, and various sensor systems as part of an evolving capability.

Acacia Systems’ Chief Executive Officer Bob Humphreys welcomed the announcement.

“The selection of Acacia’s Cortex technology as the command-and-control heart of Army’s LAND 156 counter drone program represents a commitment to a proven South Australian capability that benefits from more than 30 years of investment in developing innovative software solutions for Australian Defence and Government clients,” Mr Humphreys said.

“Cortex is an open architecture system designed alongside the war fighter with significant input from sovereign Australian sensor and effector vendors.

“Acacia is committed to working with Leidos and Defence to deliver rapid, agile capability upgrades at the speed necessary to meet emerging drone threats and that will be critical to keeping our ADF members safe.”

Following the announcement, Leidos Australia Chief Executive Paul Chase said the company was delighted to have been selected as the ADF’s systems integration partner for its counter-drone program.

“We’re proud to bring our deep systems integration experience, sovereign capabilities, global expertise, and proven systems together for LAND 156,” Mr Chase said.

“We will fast-track proven capabilities to the Australian warfighter and deliver an evolving and enduring counter-UAS system for our Defence Force.”

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Photo: Acacia Systems Chief Product Officer Jon Cooke and CEO Bob Humphreys at Defence SA’s South Australia – the Defence State stand during Avalon 2025.