Key Highlights

  • KTEK has signed a fixed-price contract worth US$172,500 with Israel-based Vestal Technology to design and build prototype airframes for the SCOOPER 25 UAV.
  • The scope covers structural design, engineering, tooling and manufacture of two composite prototype airframe structures.
  • The first prototype is targeted for completion within five months of project commencement, with the second approximately one month later.
  • The SCOOPER 25 uses Vestal's patented SCOOP wing technology and has a maximum take-off mass of up to 25 kilograms.

New Contract With Vestal Technology

KTEK Aerosystems Ltd (ASX:KTK) has announced a binding prototype development and Manufacturing agreement with Israel-based Vestal Technology Ltd. Under the agreement, KTEK will advance the structural design of Vestal's SCOOPER 25 unmanned aerial vehicle to prototype-manufacturing maturity, manufacture the required prototype tooling, complete static structural analysis, and produce two composite prototype airframe structures. The SCOOPER 25 has a maximum take-off mass of up to 25 kilograms and is built around Vestal's patented SCOOP wing architecture.

Contract Value and Structure

The agreement carries a fixed contract price of US$172,500, excluding taxes, duties, shipping and customer-site expenses, with payments linked to order, tooling and prototype-completion milestones. The scope covers completion of the structural design required for prototype manufacture, design and manufacture of prototype tooling, and production of two composite prototype airframe structures. KTEK expects to recognise Revenue from the contract progressively as the agreed engineering, tooling and prototype milestones are completed.

Delivery Timeline

KTEK has targeted completion of the first prototype airframe structure within five months of project commencement, with the second prototype targeted for delivery approximately one month later. The company notes that this timing remains subject to agreed customer inputs, configuration freeze and supplier availability.

About Vestal Technology and the SCOOPER 25

Vestal Technology is an Israel-based developer of electric unmanned aerial systems, targeting long-endurance, extreme short take-off and landing, and low-signature applications for defence, special operations, intelligence and surveillance, mapping and infrastructure-monitoring uses. The company states its SCOOP wing architecture is designed to generate high lift at low speeds, support extreme short take-off and landing operations, and deliver extended endurance with reduced acoustic and thermal signature. Vestal is led by a team with backgrounds in aviation and defence, including former senior Israeli Air Force personnel and executives with UAV development, flight operations and commercialisation experience.

Strategic Fit and Next Steps

KTEK describes the Vestal contract as consistent with its established Business model of combining full-turnkey design-to-build work, engineering and tooling, and composite prototype manufacture within a single customer program. The company operates what it terms a 'Cordless Factory' model, retaining engineering design, structural analysis, program management and quality assurance in-house, while using a certified international manufacturing partner network to support production scaling. Founder and Managing Director Dekel Keisar said the contract brings together the company's structural engineering, composite design, tooling and manufacturing capabilities to help take the SCOOPER 25 from preliminary design into physical prototypes, adding that KTEK's immediate focus is delivering the two agreed prototype airframe structures. The current contract is limited to the two prototypes and does not guarantee further orders, with any follow-on manufacturing dependent on successful prototype development, Vestal's requirements and a separate commercial agreement.

Conclusion

The Vestal Technology contract adds a new customer to KTEK's portfolio and fits within the company's established staged model of supporting aerospace and unmanned-system programs from design through to prototyping. While the current agreement is limited in scope and value to two prototype airframe structures, successful delivery within the targeted five-to-six month timeframe could position KTEK to be considered for further work as the SCOOPER 25 program progresses toward qualification and, potentially, serial production, though the company has been clear that any follow-on orders would require a separate commercial agreement.