XTEK appoints experienced defence force officer as strategic advisor to the board

XTEK Ltd (ASX:XTE) has appointed highly experienced defence force officer Brigadier Mark Smethurst DSC, AM (Ret’d) as a strategic advisor to the board.   Brigadier Smethurst has spent 35 years’ in the Australian Army with 27 of those years as a Senior Special Forces officer. He was the deputy commander of the Australian Special Forces Command and has commanded NATO Special Forces in Afghanistan. Smethurst was also the deputy chief of operations for US Special Operations Command. “Distinguished service” Chairman Uwe Boettcher said: “I welcome Mark to the XTEK board and look forward to working with him. “His extensive experience and distinguished service with the Australian Defence Force will be of immense value to the company.” Prior to departing the Australian Defence Force in March 2017, he was head of Preparedness - director general Joint Force Analysis developing futures concepts, experimentation, lessons & preparedness. He is also a member of and advisor to the Global SOF Foundation https://gsof.org/our-advisors/ In the new role, he is well positioned to assist and advise XTEK both within the Australian and international contexts. Strong September quarter XTEK enjoyed a strong September quarter, completing first deliveries of the XTclave™ plates, enhancing XTclave™ manufacturing capabilities in South Australia and furthering commercialisation goals with orders from the US Department of Defense as well as the Australian Defence Force. The company is also in a strong financial position to make further progress following successful completion of an oversubscribed capital raising. Managing director Phillipe Odouard said: “We are pleased with delivering a strong quarter of growth for the company, in which we achieved several important milestones.