How DroneShield protected Brazil’s president

Vital to the police’s anti-drone capability was the DroneGun Tactical, a handheld product that emits jamming frequencies to disrupt drone operation. Speaking to Defence Connect, Oleg Vornik, chief executive officer of DroneShield, explained how the handheld device has become a fundamental instrument in the law enforcement and military toolkit. “The DroneGun Tactical is a smart jammer. It denies the connection between the drone and the outside environment — be it the controller or satellite,” he explained. “While the jammers aren’t new technology, the new DroneGuns are innovative because they pack a lot of punch into a very small package. The DroneGun tactical Tactical weighs only 7 kilograms, and the DroneGun MKIII pistol is just 2 kilograms.”

According to Vornik, the capability was designed for simplicity of use. When a warfighter sees an enemy drone, the operator can point and shoot the weapon prompting the drone to either land or revert to its initial starting point.

“The product has been designed with no training or maintenance required and is super easy to use. We put it into a rifle form because we believe it is important to have an emotional connection between the user and the product — we didn’t want a backpack with a bunch of antennas sticking out and a complex interface! Once the drone gets isolated from the controller and the satellite, the drone responds by landing or going back to the start point, depending on the type of jamming selected by the DroneGun user.”

Interestingly, Vornik explained that the gun is useful against emerging drone swarm technologies, while recovered enemy drones can improve battlefield intelligence. “Importantly, the drone is not damaged, and its data flight records, photos, and videos can then be extracted. DroneGun covers an area, so it works on swarms too!”

The application of the DroneGun assets marks a meteoric rise for the company, having only expanded into the Brazilian market in 2021, securing approval from the nation’s telecommunications to deploy their radio frequency devices. Over recent months, the company has seen a substantial increase in demand for its counter-UAS capabilities. This includes two back-to-back $11 million orders from unknown international government entities.

According to Vornik, the ASX-listed company — owned by 9,000 retail and mum-and-dad investors — operates in over 100 countries. “The US is by far our largest and most important customer, including the Department of Defense, intelligence community, homeland security, and similar government agencies,” Vornik explained.

“We do a fair amount of work in Australia, including broader Electronic electronic Warfare warfare work. Besides that, we operate in about 100 countries globally. Between geographic and product mix, this ensures diversity in our revenue streams in what can be a purchasing cycle with long wait times. However, on the flip side, the customers are incredibly loyal once you are logged in with them, unlike consumer markets!”

Looking towards the future, Vornik explained that DroneShield is working towards making the world a safer place. “We are proud to be an Australian tech and defence success story, helping make the world safer and fostering the next generation of Australia’s tech talent. We currently employ over 40 engineers in Australia and have a number of additional engineering positions open while much of the tech industry is shedding people.”