- DroneShield (ASX:DRO) is an ASX-listed defence tech stock
- The company develops drone-finding and jamming technology
- DroneShield has begun a relationship with Lockheed Martin Australia
- Lockheed Martin is one of the world’s most known defence giants
- DRO’s DroneCannon Mk2 is being adopted by Lockheed Martin
- Shares are up 1.67 per cent, trading at 30.5 cents at 12:51 pm AEDT
ASX-listed anti-drone tech developer DroneShield (ASX:DRO) has commenced a collaborative partnership with Lockheed Martin.
The company’s DroneCannon Mk2 is being adopted by Lockheed Martin.
DroneCannon Mk2 is a wide-area radar that forces any small drones flying in its ‘line of sight’ to either land or return to base.
DroneShield jammer tech
Called an effector, the tech provides a bubble of airspace that disrupts drones that fly within its radius.
In simple parlance, the product is known as a jammer.
The tech has implications for use on-site civilian airports, as well as sensitive locations in civil and military contexts.
High-brow partnership
Lockheed Martin is one of the world’s largest, oldest, and most well-known defence companies.
The partnership comes via Lockheed Martin’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Leadership and Research Laboratory (STELaRLab).
The military-industrial complex giant has designed planes for the UK military for decades, going back to the world wars.
STELaRLab lays out interest
STELaRLab Integrated System Lead Kevin McDonald made clear why Lockheed Martin has its eyes on DroneCannon Mk2.
“The system brings together a number of Australian sensors and effectors with an open mission architecture to provide a rapid, scalable and flexible response to airborne threats,” he said.
“Lockheed Martin, for its part, included open mission systems architecture and “[acted] as prime systems integrator.”
Agile shield funding
Lockheed Martin is eyeing DroneShield’s DroneCannon Mk2 for use in its Agile Shield program.
Ahile Shield has been developed under the Federal Defence Department’s $1.2 billion Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF).
The Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) is running a “grand challenge” for counter-improvised threats development.
In other words, it’s looking for ways to take down small recreational model drones which are bought cheaply and used as reconnaissance assets.
Drones in 2023 warfare
The Ukraine and Israel wars have also shown the increasing use of small drones as weapons loaded with munitions.
Drones are capable of dropping single grenades on soldiers or tanks with high impact, depending on the pilot’s aim.
Shares were up 1.67 per cent, trading at 30.5 cents at 12:51 pm AEDT.