Codan Group has used the UK’s flagship defence industry event in London to premiere its new South Australian-made military grade soldier radio to a global audience.

At a special event at DSEI UK on Wednesday 10 September, DTC, a subsidiary of Codan, hosted a product launch of the Sentry 6161, a mesh Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) personal radio which is engineered for front-line forces and has dual-use applications across government, civilian, and commercial sectors.

Earlier this year, the company announced that its Sentry 6161, which is designed and manufactured locally in Mawson Lakes, would be integrated into a fleet of CorvoX drones, supporting the Australian Defence Force’s DEF129 Uncrewed Aerial System program.

In a show of the advanced manufacturing capability of South Australia’s defence industry, Codan Group CEO, Alf Ianniello, said DTC had undertaken military demonstrations to validate sovereign manufacturing, tactical performance, waveform hosting, and power-integration scenarios.

“From squad radios to dismounted networks, the Sentry 6161 was designed with the military end user in mind,” Mr Ianniello said.

“We prioritised sovereign supply chain control, operational versatility, and a clear migration path so armed forces can modernise comms, protect investment and field new capabilities rapidly without losing continuity of logistics or mission effectiveness.”

Mr Ianniello said the trials demonstrated the radio’s ability to operate with clip-on batteries and centralised power systems, host multiple waveforms, and interoperate across heterogeneous tactical networks (HTN).