DroneShield’s DroneGun Tactical rifle-shaped jammer device. Image provided by DroneShield.
Australian drone countermeasure producer DroneShield has taken out the SME Innovation Grant and Young Innovator awards at the Industry Innovation Awards during the Land Forces Expo in Adelaide.
The firm was awarded for its DroneGun Tactical product — a rifle-shaped jamming device for UAVs that simultaneously interrupts multiple RF bands (2.4GHz, 5.8GHz, 433 MHz and 915MHz) and GNSS signals (GPS, GLONASS).
The DroneGun Tactical was used by security services at the recent Winter Olympic Games, and by Queensland Police at the recent Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
The company says that the product does not damage the drones or surrounding environment, the DroneGun’s jamming effect usually triggering one of the UAV’s suspension operations — a controlled landing, or returning to its starting point.
Minister for Trade and Industry Niall Blair commended DroneShield on their awards.
“It’s fantastic to see a NSW company recognised as the best of the best among the nation’s defence firms, and it is particularly pleasing to see a company based in the Sydney Startup Hub becoming a world leader in new technology and landing significant international contracts.” he said.
“I’m proud of the role that the NSW Government’s support for the Startup Hub has played in the success of companies like DroneShield. The company was among 18 defence innovators selected across six categories from around Australia as finalists.”
Stay up to date by getting stories like this delivered to your mailbox.
Sign up to receive our free weekly Spatial Source newsletter.
DroneShield’s CEO Oleg Vornik said that the design of the device accounts for the strict requirements required for military use, including robustness, temperature extremes and g-force resistance.
“The engineering team has taken all of this into account and what we’ve got as a result is a functional product that looks and feels great for the user,” he said.
You can see an interview with Peter James, independent non-executive chairman for DroneShield, speaking on the SME Innovation Grant award below.
