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Geopolitical unrest sees India upgrade its air base security via Ava Risk Group

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By George Tchetvertakov - 
Ava Risk Group ASX Future Fibre Technologies FFT airbase

Ava’s integrated security solution will be deployed across 23 military airbases over a period of 18-24 months, commencing in Q1 FY20.

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Security risk management company Ava Risk Group (ASX: AVA) has harnessed ongoing geopolitical unrest to extend its product reach in India – to the tune of US$3.5 million (A$5 million).

Ava Group has announced that its Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) Aura Ai-2 “long range sensitivity intrusion detection” product has been selected as part of a comprehensive perimeter security upgrade program covering major air bases across India.

The contract was the result of the heightened security environment in the region as a result of tensions between Indian and Pakistani paramilitary forces.

In September last year, Ava Group was picked to protect a major military data network under a cybersecurity deal potentially worth up to A$15.2 million.

At the time, the company announced its Indian manufacturing partner, SFO Technologies Private, had been issued a letter of intent to manufacture Ava’s FFT Secure Link technology for the Indian Ministry of Defence.

The new contract is therefore being seen as a parallel extension of the company’s ongoing growth in the region and demonstrates that FTT’s product has become a market leader.

In a presentation to investors, Ava Group said it had finalised contractual terms with SFO meaning that it had received and formally accepted the purchase order from the prime contractor.

Furthermore, it was confirmed that the value of the licence fee has increased, with Ava estimating it will receive US$11.9m (A$16.86m) over the next 14 months.

Improving market traction could potentially explain recent share acquisitions by two of Ava Group’s directors, David Cronin who currently serves as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer Scott Basham. The pair have acquired a combined total of A$64,311 worth of shares in the past month.

Airbase security upgrade program

The newly signed agreement will see FFT Aura Ai-2 deployed as part of an integrated security solution at 23 military airbases over a period of 18 to 24 months, commencing later this year.

According to Ava Group, the integrated security system will include “smart fences” with FFT’s Aura Ai-2 installed alongside a full complement of CCTV cameras, infra-red devices, motion detectors, anti-penetration, thermal and other sensors, backed by drones and surveillance devices.

In order to win the tender for the raft of new installations, Ava Group revealed that its Aura Ai-2 had undergone competitive on-site trials where the system was tested alongside alternative “intrusion detection technologies for simultaneous buried and fence mounted applications”.

Ava Group declared that test results demonstrated FFT to be “the only solution capable of meeting the customer’s stringent detection requirements” such as walker, vehicle, fence cuts and climbs, simultaneous events, integration prerequisites and low nuisance alarm levels.

“The success of FFT’s Aura Ai-2 product in this competitive and challenging trial is reflective of the power of our Aura platform and the continuous improvements we have made since its launch in early 2017,” said Scott Basham, chief executive officer of Ava Group.

Mr Basham added that “this has resulted in the release of Aura Ai-2 for buried applications, followed by further enhancements which included accurate detection, location and reporting of multiple disturbances to within 2m on fences and to within 5m for buried applications.”

As a result of today’s military award Ava Group said that FFT’s Aura Ai-2 is now the “clear market leader” with its unrivalled high-sensitivity detection, location accuracy, cut resilience capability, low nuisance alarms, and the longest linear range of any solution currently available.

Today’s news helped Ava Group shares gain 12% in early morning trade to $0.185 per share.