Australian counter-drone maker rises as UAV warfare rapidly evolves
SYDNEY -- Two years ago, Australia's DroneShield, which builds equipment to detect and disable drones, had about 90 employees. Today, that number has jumped to 275.
Its growth from a start-up founded in 2014 to an ASX-listed company with a market cap of 1.3 billion Australian dollars ($848 million) reflects how drones have reshaped modern conflict and propelled increasing demand for counter measures.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Govt, LDP Discuss Increasing Taxation on Foreign Visitors; Abolition of Tourist's Consumption Tax Exemption Urged
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. There are growing discussions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party about how to tax the rapidly increasing number of foreign visitors to Japan more effectively. The LDP argues that abolishing the consumption tax exemption and raising the International Tourist Tax (departure tax) would also help to combat overtourism. A group of LDP lawmakers on Thursday handed proposals to Itsunori Onodera, chairperson of the LDP's Policy Research Council, and Yoichi Miyazawa, chairperson of the party's Research Commission on the Tax System, calling for the abolition of the consumption tax exemption. Introduced alongside Japan's consumption tax in 1989, the exemption is based on the international principle that consumption tax is levied at the point of consumption. However, there have recently been an increasing number of cases of abuse of the system, with large quantities of tax-exempt goods being purchased and resold for profit. In response, the government plans to revise the current system of selling goods without consumption tax being imposed at duty-free shops and instead implement a 'refund system' from November next year, whereby consumers will receive the amount paid in consumption tax at the time of departure. If abuse occurs, the refund will not be paid. Nevertheless, the lawmakers argue that abuse cannot be prevented if duty-free shops and international visitors collude, and therefore the tax exemption should be abolished. 'Offering a 10% discount (by not imposing the consumption tax) to encourage people to buy overseas brand-name goods (in Japan) is not the vision of a tourism-oriented country that we are aiming for,' said Kenji Nakanishi, a member of the House of Representatives. The government and the LDP are also considering increasing the departure tax. Introduced in 2019 as a source of revenue for tourism promotion, the tax imposes a ¥1,000 levy on passengers departing from Japan, regardless of nationality. The tax is added to airline and cruise ship ticket prices. At the House of Councillors Budget Committee in May, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated that visitors to Japan also use Japan's infrastructure and that 'paying appropriate compensation is an obligation that they owe Japanese taxpayers,' indicating his intention to consider raising the tax. There are countries and regions with higher departure taxes than Japan — Australia imposes a 70 Australian dollar (approximately ¥6,600) levy, while Hong Kong charges 120 Hong Kong dollars (approximately ¥2,200). According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2024 increased by 47.1% year-on-year to reach 36.87 million. Visitors are arriving at a record-breaking pace this year, making measures to address overtourism an urgent issue.
Nikkei Asia
3 days ago
- Nikkei Asia
Australian counter-drone maker rises as UAV warfare rapidly evolves
SYDNEY -- Two years ago, Australia's DroneShield, which builds equipment to detect and disable drones, had about 90 employees. Today, that number has jumped to 275. Its growth from a start-up founded in 2014 to an ASX-listed company with a market cap of 1.3 billion Australian dollars ($848 million) reflects how drones have reshaped modern conflict and propelled increasing demand for counter measures.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Trump administration reviewing Biden-era submarine pact with Australia, UK
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and David Brunnstrom U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has launched a formal review of a defense pact worth hundreds of billions of dollars that former President Joe Biden made with Australia and the United Kingdom, allowing Australia to acquire conventionally armed nuclear submarines, a U.S. defense official told Reuters. The formal Pentagon-led review is likely to alarm Australia, which sees the submarines as critical to its own defense as tensions grow over China's expansive military buildup. It could also throw a wrench in Britain's defense planning. AUKUS is at the center of a planned expansion of its submarine fleet. "We are reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda," the official said of the review, which was first reported by Financial Times. "Any changes to the administration's approach for AUKUS will be communicated through official channels, when appropriate." AUKUS, formed in 2021 to address shared worries about China's growing power, is designed to allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles. Vocal skeptics of the AUKUS deal among Trump's senior policy officials include Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's top policy advisor. In a 2024 talk with Britain's Policy Exchange think-tank, Colby cautioned that U.S. military submarines were a scarce, critical commodity, and that U.S. industry could not produce enough of them to meet American demand. They would also be central to U.S. military strategy in any confrontation with China centered in the First Island Chain, an area that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas. "CROWN JEWEL" "My concern is why are we giving away this crown jewel asset when we most need it," Colby said. The Australian and UK embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. National Security Council also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AUKUS is Australia's biggest-ever defense project, with Canberra committing to spend A$368 billion ($240 billion) over three decades on the program, which includes billions of dollars of investment in the U.S. production base. News of the U.S. review comes hours after the British government announced plans to invest billions of pounds to upgrade its submarine industrial base, including at BAE Systems in Barrow and Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby, to allow the increase in submarine production rate announced in Britain's Strategic Defence Review. Britain said this month it would build up to 12 next-generation attack submarines of the model intended to be jointly developed by the UK, U.S. and Australia under AUKUS. Only six countries operate nuclear submarines: the U.S., the UK, Russia, China, France and India. AUKUS would add Australia to that club starting in 2032 with the U.S. sale of Virginia-class submarines. Before that, the U.S. and Britain would start forward rotations of their submarines in 2027 out of an Australian naval base in Western Australia. Later, Britain and Australia would design and build a new class of submarines, with U.S. assistance, with the first delivery to the UK in the late 2030s and to Australia in the early 2040s. Although Australia has declined to say ahead of time whether it would send the submarines to join U.S. forces in any conflict between the U.S. and China, Colby noted Australia's historic alliance with Washington, including sending troops to Vietnam. "I think we can make a decent bet that Australia would be there with us in the event of a conflict," Colby said last year. Speaking in Congress on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said "we're having honest conversations with our allies." On Australia, Hegseth said: "We want to make sure those capabilities are part of how they use them with their submarines, but also how they integrate with us as allies." Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who signed a previous agreement to acquire French submarines that was shelved in favor of AUKUS, told CNBC last week it was "more likely than not that Australia will not end up with any submarines at all, but instead, simply provide a large base in Western Australia for the American Navy and maintenance facilities there." © Thomson Reuters 2025.
