• Initial contract worth $1M to $1.2M
• Hydrix chosen after competitive tender process
• Counter-drone capability is an ADF priority with $7B in funding

Hydrix Limited (ASX: HYD) has signed a binding contract with the NIOA Group to support the design, development and integration of NIOA's telemetry capable Inert Proximity Fuze and Kinetic Effector payload package for small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS). The initial contract value is between $1,000,000 to $1,200,000, with the program ramping up in May 2026 to meet a December demonstration milestone followed by design optimisation to conclude in Q1 2027. NIOA Group is a privately owned global munitions and energetics manufacturing company, and Hydrix was chosen for the engagement after a competitive tender process due to its mission-critical embedded electronics, software engineering and systems integration capability. Counter-drone capability is an explicit priority for the Australian Defence Force (ADF), with the 2026 National Defence Strategy and A$425B Integrated Investment Program committing up to A$7B specifically to counter-drone capability. The global counter-UAS market is growing at ~25% CAGR and is forecast to reach USD $20.3B by 2030. This contract is one of several active UAS/counter-UAS projects Hydrix currently has underway, demonstrating the company's growing Defence technology pipeline and capability relevance.

The initial contract value is between $1,000,000 to $1,200,000, with the program ramping up in May 2026 to meet a December demonstration milestone followed by design optimisation to conclude in Q1 2027.

This contract is one of several active UAS/counter-UAS projects Hydrix currently has underway, demonstrating the company's growing Defence technology pipeline and capability relevance.