Li-S Energy Signs Defence Collaboration Deal with EPE

Li-S Energy Limited (ASX:LIS) announced it has signed a Collaboration Agreement with EPE Trusted to Protect, a wholly Australian-owned defence and national security company, establishing a framework for the joint evaluation, qualification and introduction of Li-S Energy's cells across EPE's global network of customers and technology partners. Li-S Energy said the agreement gives it access through EPE to defence forces, EOD and counter-drone units, law enforcement and government agencies across the Indo-Pacific, North America, Europe and the United Kingdom, and to a partner ecosystem that includes more than 60 international defence and security OEMs alongside the Australian primes Babcock, BAE Systems, Thales and Leidos. Target platforms named in the announcement include drones, ground robotics, EOD robots, counter-drone systems and soldier electronics.

The company said the agreement is non-exclusive and that any commercial battery supply outcomes will depend on the results of evaluation and qualification programs and on the procurement decisions of EPE's customers and partners. No financial terms were disclosed. Li-S Energy said its batteries can deliver almost twice the range and operating time of, and increase the payload carrying capacity of, drones and unmanned systems, and that it recently delivered cells to US Army DEVCOM for independent evaluation and testing. Managing Director Dr Lee Finniear said the agreement provides a pathway to EPE's defence and security customers and to the OEMs and Australian primes building the platforms in which Li-S Energy cells could be used. EPE, founded and led by Australian Army veteran Warwick Penrose, operates from Brisbane with offices in Wellington and Kentucky, and was recently awarded $3.05 million by the Queensland Sovereign Industry Development Fund to upgrade and expand a manufacturing facility for Australian-designed drone systems.