DroneShield wins Southeast Asia counter unmanned aircraft system deal, possibly with Singapore

SINGAPORE, Sep 19, 2020, ASEAN Military Review. Australian counter unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) developer announced on 11 September that it had received an order for a DroneSentry system for the army of an undisclosed Southeast Asian country that is “allied with the West,” ASEAN Military Review reported.

Order for a DroneSentry system

The order, which is the first for the particular country, includes a complete DroneSentry package comprising of RfOne MKIIRF direction-finding sensors, RadarZero revolutionary metamaterials radars, DroneCannon electronic warfare modules, and DroneOpt electro-optic systems with the proprietary DroneOptID AI/machine learning engine for target and payload visual recognition, identification and tracking.

The sensor feeds from these detection devices can then be fused together for comprehensive situational awareness and C-UAS countermeasures using the DroneShieldComplete command and control (C2) engine.

The order, worth US$1 million, is a full capability initial order that the company believes will lead to additional sales following its deployment. The system is expected to be delivered within the fourth quarter of 2020.

Singapore

Although no details of the customer had been revealed in the announcement, the island state of Singapore is widely seen as being West-leaning – despite its official policy of non-alignment – as evidenced by the large inventory of Western-made defence equipment (especially for its air and sea services), its large training footprint in countries such as Australia and the United States, and its enthusiastic participation in major US-led multilateral military exercises.

The country has grown increasingly concerned by the threat posed by small UASs to its dense civilian and military infrastructure, with the Republic of Singapore Air Force highlighting its new Jammer Gun and Drone Catcher systems in mid-2018. However, the army has yet to publicly show its C-UAS capabilities.

The latest order follows a 10 September announcement of a contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to introduce a range of feature enhancements for its DroneShieldComplete C2 system. The work is expected to lead to multiple purchases of DroneShield C-UAS products that would run on the enhanced C2 system.

“Combined with the recent sales to multiple European Government users, and yesterday’s announcement of a contract with the US Department of Defense, there is now a clear momentum in customer adoption of our products,” said DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik.

“Our world-leading product offering meets the requirement of some of the most demanding military and government users globally,” he added.

by Jr Ng