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Sydney-based counter-drone technology company DroneShield (ASX: DRO) is tapping into South Australia’s emerging defence and aerospace sector with plans to invest $13 million into research and development facility in Adelaide.
The facility, which will support DroneShield’s existing engineering operations in Sydney, is planned to focus on growing the company’s advanced radio frequency (RF) electronics and electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
Today’s announcement follows two years of significant growth for the company which this week topped 400 employees globally, nearly doubling its team in the past year and more than quadrupling it over the last two years. About 300 of these employees are software and hardware engineers.
“South Australia is recognised as a national leader in defence and space industries, with Adelaide home to a highly skilled and experienced workforce,” says DroneShield’s CEO Oleg Vornik.
“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’s growth to 400 employees globally – with the majority of our team being engineers – reflects our commitment to deep technical capability and delivery.”
The $13 million spend by DroneShield represents three years of operational and capital expenditure by the company on the project.
The Adelaide facility will initially create about 20 high-skilled engineering roles, focused on RF electronics, EW and systems integration, to support enhancements to DroneShield’s cutting-edge defence technologies.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has welcomed the investment by DroneShield and its plans to grow the state’s skilled workforce.
“South Australia is the ‘defence state’ and has been recognised by the Business Council as the best place in the country to do business,” says Malinauskas.
“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.”
DroneShield’s South Australian R&D facility will be led by Jeff Wojtiuk, an Australian engineer who specialises in radio frequency technologies.
Wojtiuk has more than 20 years of experience in defence and aerospace systems engineering, including a decade with Lockheed Martin Australia.
The company, which says Wojtiuk has a solid background in RF design, EW and complex systems integration, will draw on his expertise to shape the technical direction of its new Adelaide facility which is expected to be fully operational by March next year.
“DroneShield’s new R&D facility in Adelaide marks a significant step forward in our commitment to ensuring our technology roadmap is being supported by the best engineering minds nationally,” says DroneShield’s chief product and technology officer Angus Bean.
“Our new facility is critical to accelerating the development of our next-generation counter-drone and EW technologies, while expanding our engineering footprint and supporting critical project development for global customers.”
The South Australia operations will support DroneShield’s plans to boost annual production capacity from $500 million to $2.4 billion by the end of next year.
In addition to its Sydney manufacturing base, the company is also planning to establish manufacturing operations in Europe and the US, where it is also looking at locating a new research and development facility.
DroneShield posted record revenue of $72.3 million in the June half-year, up 210 per cent from a year earlier, which delivered a net profit of $2.1 million.
The company’s sales pipeline of $2.34 billion at the end of August was up 113 per cent from a year earlier.
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