It’s hard to argue when DroneShield chief technology officer Angus Bean says it’s been a “wildly successful” year for the Australian counterdrone tech company.
After launching in Virginia, US in 2014, DroneShield publicly listed on the ASX in 2016 and became substantially Australian-owned. It’s been steadily growing in the years since, but kicked into a new gear across the last 12 months.
In the last year, DroneShield has enjoyed year-on-year revenue growth of 110 percent, grown its team from 89 to 186 people, launched a number of new products and significantly scaled up its manufacturing facilities to keep up with demand.
“DroneShield has had a wildly successful year, reaping the benefits of past innovations and using that gain to sow the seeds for continuing this high pace of research, development and production,” Mr Bean said.
“DroneShield has a long history of breaking ground in the counterdrone landscape, which has a reputation for being one of the fastest evolving technical spheres due to the variety of topics it covers.”
DroneShield provides a range of hardware and software services aimed at the combating of drones for the use of military, government, law enforcement, critical infrastructure and protecting VIPs.
Its technologies include radio frequency sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, sensor fusion, electronic warfare, rapid prototyping and MIL-SPEC manufacturing.
DroneShield’s new radio frequency artificial intelligence (RFAI) tools take advantage of deep learning in order to classify and sort radio frequency signals in real-time on software-defined radio hardware platforms.
This means it is better able to quickly and accurately detect and track drones without producing the false alarms that can emerge from existing radar sensors.
Currently, a lot of these systems cannot identify small drones that are more than one or two kilometres away, and those that are capable of doing this can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But DroneShield’s RFAI technology can do this at a smaller cost, and can also detect drones over water, offering unparalleled performance in countering drones.
DroneShield is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence in the AI Industry Pioneer and Translation Hero categories. The AI Industry Pioneer award is sponsored by the National Artificial Intelligence Centre, and the Translation Hero award is sponsored by CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program. You can secure tickets to the black-tie gala event here.
In June last year, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles visited DroneShield’s new Sydney headquarters, and later that year announced that the company’s counterdrone technologies would form a key part of Australia’s aid package to assist Ukraine in the war against Russia.
DroneShield’s rapidly deployable C-UAS sensors and effectors compromised about half of the $20 million package, and the company’s products are now being used on the frontline of Ukraine’s defences.
In June this year, the company unveiled a $4.7 million order for its products from a new non-government Swiss international customer, which will use the tools for convoy and mobile VIP protection.
And in August it announced a new update to its full range of radio frequency sensors, expanding the type of drones that RFAI is capable of identifying and tracking.
“DroneShield has long held a place at the front of the pack, and is on track to maintain that lead,” Mr Bean said.
“DroneShield technologies are developed by cross-functional teams with expertise ranging across the full breadth of challenges in the sector, rather than more traditional companies focusing on a single aspect.
“As a result, these products consistently place best-in-class at comparative demonstrations coordinated by state actors around the world.”
Moving forward, DroneShield will look to continue its track record of innovation in order to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive counterdrone technologies space.
“Innovation is at the heart of DroneShield’s identity — it was founded as one of the first groups to even consider that the field of counterdrone technology would need to exist,” Mr Bean said.
“After breaking into an industry that did not exist yet, Australian R&D and manufacturing have remained at the very core of everything DroneShield does.
“Recognition on this front is reassurance that DroneShield is standing by these values as it grows from a small local startup to shine as a beacon of what a success story of Australian industry can look like.”
Looking for brand exposure in front of Australia’s tech ecosystem? Purchase a table of 10 for the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a table sponsor.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by: Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.