Anti-Drone Co. Partners With, Sponsors Military Drone Racers

Anti-drone defense company DroneShield Ltd. (DRO:ASX; DRSHF:OTC) announced it is collaborating with the Australian Defence Force Drone Racing Association and has become a team sponsor.

The company said the partnership will enhance its counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) operational learning and field tactics.

The ADF Drone Racing Association, formed in 2017, includes the ADF's fastest drone racing pilots from the country's Navy, Army, and Air Force.

"The ADF Drone Racing Association contains some of the best drone pilots in the country in the military context, flying small, ultra-fast drones at over 150 (kilometers per hour), in unique and challenging settings," said DroneShield Chief Executive Officer Oleg Vornik. "There is an amount of operational learnings between our teams, and we look forward to the collaboration. This is a significant red-teaming opportunity for DroneShield to continue to stay at the edge of C-UAS capabilities globally."

DroneShield develops technologies to protect people, vehicles, and installations from UAS. It provides artificial intelligence-based platforms for protection against drone threats and other hostile autonomous systems with products designed for a variety of terrestrial, maritime, and airborne platforms.

"The recent capital raise has provided DroneShield the ability to build inventory in anticipation of material contracts (and fulfill smaller contracts faster) that are expected to close in the short to medium term," wrote Peloton Capital analyst Darren Odel, who rated the stock Buy.

The company provides custom counter-drone and electronic warfare solutions and off-the-shelf products designed to meet a variety of terrestrial, maritime, and airborne requirements.

Its more notable products include the DroneGun Tactical, DroneGun MK3, DroneGun MK4, DroneSentry, DroneSentry-C2, DroneSentry-X, and RfPatrol.

Recently, the company introduced a new detection and adaptive disruption system for tracking multi-domain unmanned systems, the DroneSentry-X Mk2.

"The DroneSentry-X Mk2 can be mounted to standard vehicle roof racks, on military vehicles, surface vessels, and unmanned mobile platforms," the company said in a release. "It can also be deployed as a permanent or fixed site install on standard tripod masts or towers and supports local or remote operations."

The Catalyst: Collaboration With the Military

According to DroneShield, some benefits of the partnership will include "systematically testing DroneShield equipment against the drones deployed by the Association, enabling two-way development of both DroneShield's C-UAS systems, and the Association's drone arsenal, influencing further development," the company noted in a release.

They will be able to collaborate on system designs and operational learning and field tactics, "deepening of relationships between Australian foremost minds in drones in military applications, and the leading sovereign C-UAS capability development."

"We are excited to enter into teaming with DroneShield, including testing our drone strategies at DroneShield's test site in Blue Mountains and exchange knowledge, and being a part of sovereign C-UAS capability development," said ADF Drone Racing Association President Wing Commander Keirin Joyce.

The ADF said in a release that drone racing "has been endorsed by the ADF Sports Cell as the 31st sport to be officially recognized as an ADF Sports Association."

The group's drone racing teams have steadily grown in membership and expertise, the ADF SAID.

Sapper Alex Brown, captain of the Army team, said it is an "exciting, challenging, and competitive sport" that fosters skills in robotics, critical thinking, teamwork, and tenacity.

"The level of skill of our drone pilots is constantly improving, and we are now very competitive in both the military drone racing competitions and also the civilian drone racing community. It's an exciting time to be a drone racer," Brown said.

'Explosive Growth'

DroneShield said it has seen "explosive growth" this year, expanding its U.S. headquarters in Northern Virginia and adding top talent to its team. 

The company secured an AU$33 million government sale, an AU$9.9 million 2-year R&D contract, an AU$40 million capital raise, and expanded to 90 employees spread across operations in both Sydney and Virginia. It has been working through an AU$61 million order backlog backed by an AU$400 million pipeline. 

Over the coming half decade, the company hopes to expand to employ some 120 to 150 staff supporting revenue of AU$300 million to AU$500 million per year, with roughly half of that income generated via software as a service (SaaS) and software R&D channels that are being developed alongside its manufacturing base.

"The recent capital raise has provided DroneShield the ability to build inventory in anticipation of material contracts (and fulfill smaller contracts faster) that are expected to close in the short to medium term," wrote Peloton Capital analyst Darren Odel, who rated the stock Buy with an AU$0.84 per share target price.

Ownership and Share Structure

Approximately 5.16% of DroneShield is held by management and insiders. Charles Goode owns 3.66% with 21.50 million shares, CFO Carla Balanco owns 1.44% with 8.45 million shares, Angus Bean owns 1.26% with 7.39 million shares, Paul Jonathan Shaw owns 0.95% with 5.58 million shares, CEO Oleg Vornik owns about 1.8% with 10.4 million shares, and Chairman Peter James owns about 1.11% with 6.5 million shares.

Institutions own 8.31% of the company. Epirus Inc owns 3.15% with 18.50 million shares, SR Bennett Pty. Ltd. owns 0.91% with 5.35 million shares, and P & B Shaw FT CB Pty. Ltd. owns 0.59% of the company with 3.43 million shares.

There are 623 million shares on issue and 586.9 million outstanding. The company has a market cap of US$122.28 million. It trades in a 52-week range of US$0.10 and US$0.34.

Sign up for our FREE newsletter

Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of DroneShield Ltd. 
2. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
3. The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

For additional disclosures, please click here.