The Australian Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, has announced that the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Boeing Australia have agreed to terminate the contract for the delivery of a Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) System. Under a contract awarded to Boeing Australia in December 2006, Joint Project 129 sought to deliver the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) I-View 250 TUAV System, for use by the Australian Army in airborne surveillance, reconnaissance, and target acquisition. Since contract award, Boeing Australia and its subcontractors have experienced a range of technical issues making it increasingly difficult to deliver the full scope of the contract within a timeframe acceptable to Defence. With a Defence imperative to field a TUAV capability as soon as possible, and the potential for a number of lower risk alternative systems, the DMO and Boeing Australia have agreed to terminate the contract on mutually acceptable terms. Rigorous management of the program by the DMO determined that proceeding as planned would have led to unacceptable delays in the delivery of this important capability. The Australian Army will continue to use the Scan Eagle UAV that is currently in service in the Middle East. As part of the agreement to terminate, Boeing will refund to Defence the $6 million they have been paid to date under the contract.