DroneShield has opened its new headquarters, increasing its research and development (R&D) and manufacturing capacity to over AU$400 million in hardware and software annually. This expansion supports the company’s efforts to convert a sales pipeline exceeding $500 million.
The new Pyrmont, NSW facility houses DroneShield’s 120 local staff and features a dedicated floor for high-tech R&D, engineering, and manufacturing. This setup is designed to fulfill orders from government, defense, and commercial customers across 70 countries.
This expansion is funded by DroneShield’s recent $115 million capital raise—$30 million pending shareholder approval—and positions DroneShield, with a market capitalization of around $700 million, as the second-largest publicly-listed defense company in Australia. The new headquarters enables the company to quickly build inventory to meet strong demand from high-quality customer opportunities. This includes a pipeline of over $500 million, over 90 qualified projects at various stages, and $27 million in orders currently being fulfilled.
“The threats that drones can pose are finally being taken seriously,” said Oleg Vornik, CEO at DroneShield. “Whether it’s due to the turmoil they can cause on the battlefield or the countless ways they can disrupt everyday life – at airports, prisons, and public events, for example – drone deterrence is now a priority for government agencies and authorities, in Australia and abroad.
“We are seeing a major push for comprehensive counter-drone and counter-UAS capabilities – predominately from the US, but broadly across Five Eyes and allies, and slowly but surely in Australia. However, our equipment is sophisticated, AI-based technology that can take up to four months to build, containing up to 200 components that must be manufactured, assembled, and quality controlled. Supply chain and inventory certainty is critical, and we are leveraging funds from the $115m capital raise to enable us to create upwards of $400m in equipment per year – all within Australia, at the new facility, as a truly sovereign defence supplier – for global customers that expect high-performance equipment to be available right away.”
The 2,000-square-meter facility, with potential for further expansion under discussion, is equipped to support additional growth amid rising demand across military and commercial applications, including airports, stadiums, and events. This expansion includes scaling DroneShield’s high-tech engineering and operations teams, with plans to add 40 employees in the short term. The company is accelerating the development of fully sovereign, in-house artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) engines to enhance the detection, identification, and response to drone threats.
The opening of DroneShield’s new headquarters follows a significant period of growth marked by several key milestones:
- Record $55.1m revenue for 2023 (up 226 percent on the previous record year), alongside first-time profitability, with profit after tax of $9.3m in 2023 (DroneShield operates on December year-end).
- Strong momentum into 2024, with the first quarter recording 10x revenue growth on the comparable first quarter of 2023.
- The signing of a procurement agreement with NATO.
- $4.3m million U.S. Government contract, paving expansion into much larger work.
- A collaboration to integrate DroneShield’s DroneCannon Mk2 into Lockheed Martin Australia’s Agile Shield Program.
- Additional shipments to Ukraine, in this instance via the Australian Government’s aid package.
- Launch of DroneSentry-X Mk2, a new generation of AI-enabled detection and defeat counter-drone system on a fully software-defined basis, with a SaaS subscription element.
- Record $33 million U.S. Government contract in mid-2023.
In addition to its global headquarters in Australia, DroneShield operates an office in Warrenton, Virginia, as its U.S. headquarters.
Post Image- DroneShield DroneSentry-X Mk2 (Image Credit: DroneShield)
