Drone firm Innovaero appoints chair as mid-year IPO approaches

Among his many leadership roles, Mr Di Pietro was responsible for strategic planning and operational oversight for Australia’s Naval Aviation Force, including leadership of a multibillion-dollar recapitalisation program focused on modernising the RAN’s Fleet Air Arm.

At Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand, he oversaw the delivery of key military hardware, including Seahawk Helicopters, ADF Aircrew Training System, AEGIS Combat Data System, Future Submarine BYG-1 Combat System and the arrival of the first tranche of F35A Lightning 2 aircraft.

The company has also announced Rajarshi Ray as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Ray is an experienced Company Director across technology, financial services and professional services, with significant ASX experience, having acted as a Chair or NED for ASX-listed entities including Class, CSG and Kyckr. Prior to that, he held senior executive roles at American Express.

The pair join founder Mike von Bertouch, former army veteran and Asia-focused diplomat Michael Hadlow and former Credit Suisse risk management specialist Gavin Martin on the Company’s Board.

After strengthening its board, the company continues to progress the OWL systems through design, prototyping, and test phases, with the OWL-B system progressing to certification with the ADF, with the aim of meeting the operational requirements for ADF procurement.

The company has also appointed Euroz Hartleys and Canaccord as Joint Lead Managers in the run-up to an expected mid-2026 Initial Public Offer.

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The OWL-B is being developed in conjunction with the Australian Defence Force as part of its Mission Talon Strike program, which is supporting the development of medium-range drone systems that have the precision strike capabilities of a guided missile.

Greg Tunny (who led Thales Air Traffic Management operations in Australia-Asia and is a former CEO of Australian Submarine Corp) was appointed Innovaero’s CEO in 2025 after serving for five years as Chief Strategy and Development Officer.

Mr Di Pietro said the Board appointments were an important part of the Company’s plans to complete the next phase of development of the OWL-B with the ADF while preparing for the development of the Company’s new headquarters at Jandakot.

“I’m excited to be part of this phase of Innovaero’s 20-year journey of aeronautical product development,” according to Mr Di Pietro.

“The Company has a great history of turning innovation into commercialisation… Innovaero’s OWL-B is in the process of being certified by the ADF and has demonstrated, field-proven capability across several ADF exercises.

“Under Mission Talon Strike, we are working with the ADF to certify OWL-B and prepare it for manufacture at scale and introduction into service.

“With the Board we have assembled, the relationships with defence and industry partners we have fostered, the technical team we have developed, plus our OWL products, we are primed to make an impact on Australia’s sovereign defence capability in the coming years.”