Chinese drone manufacturers and western companies producing counter-drone systems are in a constant battle of technological innovation.
If that wasn’t obvious from the battlefields of Ukraine, representatives of the Chinese and western companies encounter each other at international defence and trade shows.
“We have some surprises for you,” counter-drone company Droneshield executive Nathan Vardanega recalls hearing from one Chinese drone representative.
What surprises could that be?
Maybe we don’t know yet, but Vardanega, Droneshield’s Chief Operations Officer, said some new Chinese consumer drones were “next level,” with capabilities far exceeding anything required by any legitimate hobby or commercial operator.
That includes ability to operate in a GPS-denied environment, resist radio frequency (RF) jamming or spoofing, fly day or night, equipped with thermal optics and a laser rangefinder.
Vardanega said this was the real deal, not some cheap knockoff.
“On some they have beam steering where they can steer a beam back to their controller and null out your jammers - on a consumer product that is being sold in the thousands all round the world.”
Numerous Chinese firms produce consumer drones but the big two are DJI and Autel, both available in Australia.
Autel’s top of the range quad-rotor offers capabilities inconceivable even just a few years ago.
With a pricetag exceeding $15,000, the Autel Robotics EVO Max isn’t for casual hobbyists but it’s well within the reach of bad actors such as South American drug cartels who use them to attack border positions.
“This is what we are talking to our colleagues in South America about, this specific brand that is causing havoc across South America,” Vardenga said.
Droneshield, founded in 2014 and based in inner Sydney Ultimo, is now a world leader in counter-drone technology, its products used in Ukraine and in high demand around the world.
Chief Executive Officer Oleg Vornik notes the ongoing cat and mouse game with Chinese and Russian drone makers.
“Five years ago, we saw Chinese drone manufacturers really focus on things you would expect drone manufacturers to focus on. How to make a drone fly the furthest, carry the most payload, have the best camera, sense and avoid and swarming,” he said.
“Now it’s not just that but also the ability to avoid detection and defeat by counter-drone defences like Droneshield. We always need to stay one ahead in terms of ability to detect and defeat complex drones.
“It’s driving that innovation cycle. We are using artificial intelligence, we do quarterly software updates, hardware refreshes every three to four years. It’s a really rapidly moving industry.”
This has been good for business. Droneshield has just announced third quarter revenue of $92.9 million, a more than 1,000 per cent increase on third quarter 2024.
Vornik outlined substantial recent growth and plans for further expansion.
Personnel numbers have risen from 250 to 400 in the last 10 months. On the way are a new 3,000 square metre Sydney production facility and a research and development centre in Adelaide, along with European and US manufacturing next year.
“All together this will aim to lift our production capacity from about $500 million a year to $2.4 billion, roughly a five times increase,” he said.
“We are seeing an enormous amount of demand and it would be a shame for us to miss that because we can’t fulfill larger contracts.”
Right now, 90 per cent of company revenues are linked to defence. That’s expected to move to 50-50 military and civil applications over the next five years.
“Today to our knowledge there is not a single airport around the world that has a fully adequate counter-drone system which is pretty shocking,” Vornik said.
“There is very significant danger here. All that is going to change and drive significant opportunity for us.”
Ninety-five percent of Droneshield’s business is in exports. That could change as the Australian Defence Force (ADF) rolls out its new counter-drone defences under project Land 156.
Defence company Leidos was selected over Droneshield as systems integration partner, a decision which Droneshield doesn’t see as disappointing. For one thing Leidos is regarded as a neutral player in this space. Had Droneshield won, it would have faced a perception of bias for awarding contracts to itself.
“The main adoption will likely start next year. We have bid to be on the panel of suppliers,” Vornik said.
Since most drones communicate with their operators by radio, Droneshield‘s technology is centred on detecting, classifying and jamming drone RF emissions. Its equipment includes portable systems such as DroneGun and larger systems for fixed installations such as RF Patrol.
To evade Ukrainian jamming Russia has countered with a new breed of drone which emits no RF and is instead guided by a long fibre optic cable.
That and hardening of drones to resist RF jamming has sparked suggestions that RF is no longer a viable basis for countermeasures.
Not so says Droneshield strategic adviser Gus McLachlan, a former Army Major General.
“We still remain of the view that a large portion of the threat will be defeated by interrupting that RF communication between the device and the operator. Droneshield remains a leader in the RF disruption space, but we are still able to integrate new hard kill systems,” he said.
That includes guns, lasers and microwaves.
One recent satisfied customer was US Air Force Global Strike Command, (AFGSC) - the successor to Strategic Air Command and responsible for USAF nuclear weapons and facilities.
AFGSC said it had trialled multiple counter-drone systems and wanted only Droneshield products.
“USAF has approved only a limited number of Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System products for operational use and even fewer meet the mobility, frequency compliance, size and power requirements specific to AFGSC installations,” it said.
“DroneShield remains the only product with proven performance and full alignment with mission requirements.”