I think you're on the money with there being a bit deliberately...

I think you're on the money with there being a bit deliberately under the radar given a $4.9 mil contract with a Land156 code next to it.

You can guarantee when this is awarded, it will be an Albanese government major press piece. It's an opportunity to look strong and future focused and those are normally met with much fanfare. There's obviously an operational need already though, given sales like the $4.9 mil one are going through prior to announcement.

Now just thinking a little further ahead:

• Albo has been trying to secure a meeting with Trump desperately, and it looks like it will be around the G7 now.
• DRO have spoken up about intention to build European manufacturing, however have been tight-lipped about any parallel American manufacturing. Most of us anticipated that the US would be the first market they would introduce manufacturing within, especially with Trump's tariffs coming into place.
• Given Trump's thing around tariffs and bringing manufacturing back to America, wouldn't this be a perfect pitch from Albo to talk about an "American-Australian company" who want to build their manufacturing in the USA. Trump would get to boast about it, and would reflexively want to order huge amounts of product as an example to others, may even facilitate and expedite it.
• Might also be an olive branch to sweeten the AUKUS arrangements, quid pro quo in Trump's eyes. Hold it up as American-Australian triumph of cooperation, let Trump say he "Made a deal". Might also reduce any sourness over Anduril not getting it - the tender looked very much written toward a company that can put things in place very quickly, was full of "reduce sovereign risk" type language, looked like they wanted to award to an Australian provider, but politically, with some good PR from Albo, this could be spun very much as an American-Australian partnership where Trump thinks he is winning. Especially if he's bringing manufacturing back to America and he has the power directly to pour Government money into contracts to make as many jobs and as much manufacturing as he wants in a "sexy" area like defence and drones.

Yeah, it might be imaginative, but it's also not that far-fetched. Perfect time to announce Land156 in front of him as well so the two nations can say they are investing Xbillion into drone defence together. If I were Albo's team, I'd be trying it, it is definitely the kind of thing Trump wants to promote.