The nature of military engagement continues to shift and Aquabotix (ASX: UUV) may have a big impact on how that happens following their biggest order of its SwarmDiver EDGE™ hybrid micro unmanned underwater vehicle. 

The $520,000 purchase from a major Asian military agency aligned to Australia has made the purchase, becoming Aquabotix’s first Asian client, joining the U.S military as users of the drone product. 

“Aquabotix restructured its operations in mid-2018, de-emphasising short-term sales in favor of developing larger volume sales, with a focus on its new SwarmDiver™ hybrid micro UUV / USV family of products,” said CEO, Whitney Million. 

“Since the roll-out of these products, the Company’s sales have followed the right trajectory. April saw Aquabotix enter into a US$30,000 contract with the United States Navy. 

“May saw a larger United States Armed Forces contract of US$150,000, and now the Company has received an A$520,000 order, the largest in its short history.” 

With offices in Sydney, Virginia and Massachusetts, Aquabotix offers a range of underwater robotics and industrial-grade underwater drones for commercial and military applications.

The covert underwater drones can be used for environmental monitoring, data gathering, 3D imaging and act as a first line of defence. 

Since the business realignment, Aquabotix has made notable improvements to their balance sheet, reporting a $1.8m loss for FY19, an improvement on the $3.3m loss in FY18.  

Following the announcement of the $520,000 sale to a major Asian military agency, shares in Aquabotix rose by as much as 125% to a high of $0.009 having closed yesterday at $0.004. 

Earlier in the year, attacks on six oil tankers in the Middle East, highlighted the vulnerabilities of waterway warfare in areas that can cause major global trade disruptions.