By Jun Yuan Yong

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Australia's Electro Optic Systems EOS.AX opened a production centre in Singapore on Friday to function as its Asian hub for making, integration and testing of high energy anti-drone lasers, it said.

Security analysts expect growing competition in turning out weapons to counter drones as both military and civilian types spread and nations boost air defences to protect civilian facilities such as airports, though cost will be a key factor.

The Singapore centre will produce EOS's 100 kilowatt-class laser weapon system for Dutch and Korean customers, it said in a statement.

"It meets the urgent need for cost-effective defence solutions against drones," Chief Executive Andreas Schwer said in remarks at the launch event.

The system achieved a per-shot cost of less than $10, compared to hundreds of thousands of dollars for missile-based intercepts, he added.

Subject to negotiations, it would be delivered as part of the Dutch army's layered air defence in 2027 or 2028, he said at the launch function.

In August 2025, the company won the world's first export contract for a 100 kilowatt-class laser weapon when the Netherlands bought its system for 71 million euros ($85 million).

The company is in talks with other customers and expects to sign more contracts in 2026, Schwer added.

The Singapore centre also provides a blueprint for further plants EOS hopes to build as it moves to localise and transfer technology to countries where its clients are located.

Officials from 32 countries such as the European Union, Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine and Vietnam, were invited to the launch.

In January, Schwer told Reuters the company was "very likely" to shift its headquarters and stock market listing to Europe from Australia within a year, aiming to capitalise on booming European defence spending.

EOS domiciles its intellectual property in Singapore for ease of technology transfer to clients in Europe, where intellectual property control is emerging as a key issue.

(Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

((junyuan.yong@thomsonreuters.com))