Neo Battery Materials (TSX-V:NBM) has secured its first direct purchase order from the Republic of Korea Army, covering drone battery packs for field validation and use by an Army division.
The arrangement allows Neo to supply the Army without a procurement intermediary, such as a drone manufacturer or systems integrator. The announcement does not disclose the order’s value, quantities, or delivery schedule.
Neo says it has also received a battery management system (BMS) development order from defence collaborator Assetta for drone platforms under a government procurement program.
The work covers battery charge indication, cell voltage monitoring and balancing, communications integration, and other functions that have not been disclosed.
Subject to successful development, the companies intend to integrate the BMS-equipped battery packs into Assetta’s drone platforms and the procurement program on a long-term basis.
Neo notes additional battery cell and pack purchase orders cover development and validation work for unnamed drone and component manufacturers in the US, South Korea, and Japan.
These customers are said to include Korean small-to-medium enterprises producing strike drones and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drones for defence and industrial applications.
CEO Spencer Huh says the company is broadening its offering across the drone battery market.
“Neo is widening its drone battery business offerings to provide a true, one-stop energy solution from cell-to-pack-to-BMS,” Huh says.
“This has translated into increased traction from Korean, Japanese, and American drone and drone components manufacturers.”
Huh says recurring customer considerations include improving battery performance within existing system constraints and securing supply outside what he describes as “adversarial jurisdictions”.
Neo is a Canadian-South Korean battery technology company developing and producing silicon-enhanced lithium-ion batteries for drones, robotics, physical AI, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
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