Droneshield sees first US civilian airport adopt its UAV detection system

Australian aerospace and defence smallcap Droneshield (ASX:DRO) has today seen an undisclosed civilian US international airport adopt its drone detection tower solution, which the company markets as the RfOne. 

While the actual value of the contract is labelled as ‘immaterial’ by the company ($0.5m), Droneshield reiterates its ability to comply with commercial US aviation regulation, and by extension, its ability to successfully market to sales in North America. 

As a result, today's landmark contract could help to prise open the US civilian aviation market which consists of over 5,000 airports. 

The RfOne system now in place is a detection-only radar tower using Droneshield’s patent technology to allow airport operators to identify in real-time the presence of low-flying retail drones, if they are being flied in the area. 

Drone incidents on the rise at airports

As far back as 2018, the commercial aviation sector has been preoccupied with the risk drones pose to flight paths. Generally, these incidents are related to drone pilots attempting to take photography or footage of airport takeoffs and landings.

If a drone is sucked into a jet engine, it poses the threat of catastrophic risk to the flight. For the same reason, airports install high-value bird repellent systems, using a mix of methods depending on local geography and environment. 

While cases of deliberate interference to flight paths using drones is rare, the potential for deliberate activity with criminal intent is clear. 

One of the most well known case studies was a string of incidents at the UK’s Gatwick Airport, also in 2018, when hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled due to the risk of nearby drones. 

Gatwick Airport, in turn, installed a 5km drone prohibition zone around the airport. 

The website Drone Detection System operates a news monitoring service covering drone incidents at airports and high-risk assets, and that secondary database lends weight to Droneshield’s case drone aviation incidents are on the increase. 

Helping to address the risk 

“More drones take to the sky every year, increasing the risk profile for airports,” DroneShield’s commercial chief Jayde Wilks said. 

“Drones can damage, or even bring down, an airliner with contact [and] reports of disruptions continue to rise. The safety risk and cost involved from diversions and disruptions can be significant.” 

“With future airport deployments, we look forward to helping address this risk.” 

Droneshield eyeing civilian, defence markets

While Droneshield’s freshest airport deployment caters to civilian operations, the company also enjoys retention of significant contracts with the Australian DOD. The company also continues to retain its footprint in the US government tender market. 

Last month, the company announced a contract worth $0.5m with an undisclosed entity through an American government agency. The company has not made clear if that announcement related to the same $0.5m contract announced today. 

Should that be the case, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to deduce the entity in question could be the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Touching back on Australian operations, the company has also begun working alongside Australia’s peak arms manufacturer and marketer, NIOA. 

Droneshield continues to collaborate with NIOA’s Australian Missile Corporation on R&D initiatives towards the creation of greater domestic missile manufacturing capabilities.

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