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DroneShield chief executive officer Oleg Vornik has confirmed that the counter-uncrewed aerial system developer is exploring options to expand into “hard-defeat” systems against drones.
DroneShield has traditionally offered a range of “soft-kill” C-UAS devices designed to jam, detect and restrict drones through radio frequency jamming, multi-sensor and effector systems, artificial intelligence and detection capabilities.
However, rumours began to swirl at the recent Indo Pacific 2025 International Maritime Exposition in Sydney last week that this could change.
Speaking exclusively with Defence Connect, Vornik confirmed that the company was open to “hard-defeat” options if a cost-effective, volumetric and non-collateral damage solution became available.
“I’m looking all the time (for a hard-defeat system) and if there was a simple answer, I can assure you that we would be there already. I am experimenting in terms of acquisition of build-your-own with a tonne of technologies. I haven’t found anything yet which is an easy answer (for hard-defeat C-UAS),” he said.
“So, with kinetic (effects), I think there will be a solution but it has to be cost-effective. It has to be no more than a few $100,000. It has to be volumetric, meaning it can’t be target for a few seconds and another target and another target because drones will overwhelm you. And cannot have severe collateral impact because that will mean you’re deployed in a very few applications. And that rules out just about every system out there.
“Drone on drone is providing some of the acceptable outcomes because you don’t have collateral impact and it’s reasonably cost-effective but it still doesn’t negate the issue of not being volumetric … It could be an option, but to be honest, it’s not the solution.
“I’m always looking at things which might come in the market. For example, if tomorrow somebody came to me and said, ‘Hey, here is a high-powered microwave solution which works at a few kilometres that costs $50,000 and has no ITAR on it.’ I would say this is absolutely perfect; but I can tell you this doesn’t exist today.”
Vornik ruled out the company’s interest in traditional C-UAS kinetic systems utilising firearms and lasers, which have recently become popular internationally.
“So, we are not planning to go into bullets or lasers … and that’s for a number of reasons. One, I actually think bullets don’t really work against drones (because) you have a dinner plate-sized object moving at 100 kilometres an hour. You can have a swarm of them coming from different directions,” he said.
“I’ve been inside of US Army ranges where trained soldiers, even at 30 metres, would take four or five shots before they get one single drone. Now you imagine 10 of them coming at you.
“If you are outside of an active war zone, if you are, for example, in the Sydney Garden Island Naval Base, you can’t just get a pistol out and start shooting in the middle of Sydney Harbour … It’s impractical and it’s ineffective. Not even to mention about drone tactics, like drones flying high in the sky, which is what we’re seeing in Ukraine now, and sort of dive-bombing into the target.
“Lasers, it’s a solution and we would if a customer really asks us to look at it, but there are a couple of issues … They are actually pretty harmful for your eyes and even militaries are concerned about it. If you miss and if your laser is powerful enough, you’re going to start taking out satellites if you are unlucky … lasers will get better over time, but right now I think it’s not a very effective technology.
“If anything, I think the most effective technology, to be honest, is drone on drone out of the whole kinetic family. You still need drone detection systems for detection followed by identification and tracking followed by defeat … And even that is not perfect because you can have 20 bad drones attacking your base from different directions. You have five good drones. By the time you take out five bad drones for your five good drones, what’s going to happen to the other 15? So you really need a solution that protects an area, not a specific one on one.”
DroneShield has previously partnered with California’s Epirus in 2023 when they announced integration of the multi-sensor DroneSentry system with the Leonidas high-power microwave counter-electronics/counter-UAS effector.
“I love high-power microwave (system) but there are a couple of issues … HPMs are not cheap and secondly, there’s ITAR (regulations),” Vornik said.
DroneShield is already considered to be flying high with substantial interest in C-UAS, punctuated by an expansive and well-attended corporate stand at the most recent Indo Pacific expo earlier this month.
“DroneShield showcased its most comprehensive and technologically advanced suite of counter-drone solutions to date (at IndoPac),” Vornik said.
“Our expanded presence reflects the rapid growth of our global footprint and the increasing demand for AI-driven drone detection and defeat capabilities.
“Naval counter-drone applications are substantial in the requirements to protect all sizes of ships near harbour, as well as shipyards and other naval facilities,
“IndoPac provided a platform for DroneShield to highlight our latest innovations, such as upgrades to our artificial intelligence drone defeat software engine, which continues to set industry benchmarks and drive DroneShield as a world-leading counter-drone technology provider.
“IndoPac enforced a strong interest in mature and scalable counter-drone solutions for military and civilian applications, including in maritime environments.
“There is a growing recognition that traditional naval platforms must evolve to include robust drone detection and mitigation capabilities. DroneShield is well positioned to meet this need, having recently completed successful drone detection exercises on allied naval vessels, demonstrating our readiness to support maritime operations with proven, deployable technology.”
