DroneShield secures US approval for largest tactical drone mitigation deal in the industry’s history

Counter drone technology provider DroneShield (ASX: DRO) has received the required regulatory go-ahead from US authorities for the company to execute the largest sale of drone mitigation equipment in its history.

Given the early-stage nature of drone mitigation as a distinct industry niche, the deal is a significant milestone that highlights the ongoing race towards greater drone mitigation effectiveness.

DroneShield first announced the sale of 70 units of its DroneGun tactical jammer to an unnamed Middle Eastern country in June this year but had to wait for the US military to approve the deal.

With the order now approved, DroneShield has said it will deliver on the $3.2 million deal by the end of this month, by supplying the DroneGuns to empower country’s military service personnel with the most sophisticated drone security capability.

The company is reportedly in the process of manufacturing the products and expects to deliver the first batch of DroneGuns to its customer within the coming days.

DroneShield said that the multimillion dollar order was secured courtesy of private company Zariba Security, an Ottawa-based supplier founded by a group of British and Canadian “security and intelligence professionals” in 2003.

Drone marketability

According to DroneShield, “this approval is for the largest order for the company’s products to date, and for the largest known order for tactical drone mitigation products globally in the short history of the drone security industry.”

The deal marks a significant milestone in defence-sector history as drone detection and drone mitigation remain embryonic industries that have only begun to mature as of recently, on the back of increased drone use.

As drones have become more widely adopted, their use has led to increasing amounts of problematic consequences for various parties, both in conflict zones around the world and in civilian areas such as airports and major transportation hubs.

“This regulatory approval represents an important step in DroneShield’s history with a green light to deliver on our first multi-million-dollar order. With the company’s near-term pipeline containing multiple multi-million-dollar potential orders, this clearance gives us and our customers the confidence that we will be able to deliver our industry-leading products to a wide range of qualified end-users,” said Oleg Vornik, CEO of DroneShield.

The Sydney-based company has developed a range of products, aimed at mitigating the threat of drones in war theatre, as well as for civilian applications.

DroneShield says it has developed “pre-eminent drone security solutions” that protect people, organisations and critical infrastructure from intrusion from drones.

The company has declared that its “leadership brings world-class expertise in engineering and physics, combined with deep experience in defence, intelligence, and aerospace.”

NATO demonstration

As part of the process of demonstrating its products and validating their effectiveness, DroneShield has been invited by the Danish Special Operations Command to participate in the Night Hawk 2018 exercise this week, held at the Aalborg Airbase in Denmark.

Night Hawk 2018 is a major NATO annual military training exercise, with approximately 1,800 personnel from ten NATO countries taking part.

DroneShield will be deploying its DroneSentry integrated detect and defeat counter drone system at the event, and is the only company invited to deploy such a system at the exercise.