DroneShield has announced a $13 million investment in a new research and development (R&D) facility in Adelaide, South Australia.
“South Australia is the Defence State, and has been recognised by the Business Council as the best place in the country to do business. We welcome DroneShield making the choice to conduct research and development here in Adelaide, creating 20 highly skilled engineering roles. As a Government, we have a strong focus on growing our Research and Development ecosystem, which has the capacity to build our economic complexity and our state’s prosperity," Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, said.
This contract will create high-skilled engineering roles in Adelaide, focused on radio frequency (RF) electronics, EW, and systems integration.
“South Australia is recognised as a national leader in defence and space industries, with Adelaide home to a highly skilled and experienced workforce. Establishing our first R&D office in Australia outside of our Sydney Headquarters – in Adelaide – is a strategic move that supports DroneShield’s mission to deliver world-leading counter-drone and EW solutions," DroneShield Chief Executive, Oleg Vornik, stated.
DroneShield’s South Australian R&D facility will be led by Jeff Wojtiuk, an Australian engineer who specialises in RF technologies. Jeff has approximately two decades of experience in defence and aerospace systems engineering, with a background in RF design, EW, and complex systems integration.
He has held senior engineering roles across defence programs – including over a decade of experience at Lockheed Martin Australia – and has contributed to the development of advanced radar and communications technologies.
The new site is expected to be fully up and running by March 2026.
The South Australia R&D expansion has come as DroneShield goes through expansion of its annual production capacity which includes setting up European and US manufacturing; as well as R&D expansion in the US.