Recently Droneshield's CEO appeared at a Senate Inquiry into
Here's his opening statement to the Senate Inquiry:
CHAIR: I welcome representatives from Electro Optic Systems Pty Ltd, DroneShield and SPEE3D. I understand that information on parliamentary privilege and the protection of witnesses giving evidence to Senate committees has been provided to you. I invite you to make a short opening statement. At the conclusion of all your remarks, I'll invite members of the committee to ask questions.
Mr Vornik: Drones have changed the face of the war. What we are seeing now in Ukraine is that while drones do not replace more traditional ways of conflict such as the use of artillery, tanks, ships and so on, they are a disruptor and they are a force multiplier. A $5,000 or $10,000 drone can be used to blow up a $5 million tank. Drones can be used for reconnaissance. Swarms of drones and other advances in technology will continue. With that, it's clear that in Ukraine, as well as in any other future conflict, both drones and counter-drone systems will be essential. DroneShield is an Australian based global leader in counter-drone solutions. We've been around for approximately 10 years, and we have about 150 staff based in Sydney. All of our engineering, R&D and production are based in Australia. We have been involved in Ukraine since the start of the war, where we have been selling equipment to Poland, and some of those systems have been donated by the Polish government to the Ukrainians, which created strong feedback that more systems were required, given the extensive use of drones by the Russians. Off the back of that, we have made several shipments to Ukraine with US foreign aid and, most recently at the end of last year, Australian aid, where we accounted for approximately $10 million out of a $20 million aid package from the Australian government. One of the points in our submission has been around how any future aid packages should be done, noting approximately $150 million was earmarked for future Ukraine aid. We believe that, where possible, aid to Ukraine from Australia should be done through purchasing and donating Australian-made equipment such as DroneShield's drones. Australia is not the US. We're not great at everything and we're smaller scale, but we do have pockets of excellence, and both drones and counter-drone systems happen to be such areas of excellence. Donating money to foreign entities, such as the UK or Latvia, does get the job done, but we believe that spending money in Australia fosters Australia's defence industry as well as enabling Australian products to be deployed in Ukraine. Additionally, even packages that have been previously deployed, while still useful, as with any technology, drone technology is rapidly evolving. What we're seeing now with the latest generations of drones are that they require hardware that is brand new, and we are now creating and releasing that hardware, which the Ukrainians have a great need for. The largest message from the DroneShield side—and I believe it's been echoed in some other submissions that we've seen—is, for future aid packages, where possible, rather than sending used ADF equipment and in that sense depriving ADF of their reserves and stocks and sending money overseas, to deploy that cash locally to provide for Australian made, cutting-edge technologies to be sent to Ukraine. That would be the optimal way of running this aid
Lots of other answers here, click download PDF. Control F to search for 'droneshield' or 'Vornik' https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22committees/commsen/28246/0000%22
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee Senate committee Monday, 8 July 2024 Australian support for Ukraine Terms of Reference for the Inquiry: To inquire into and report on: Australian support for Ukraine, with particular reference to: (a) whether the support is timely, coordinated and comprehensive; (b) whether support is appropriately coordinated on a whole-of-government and whole-of-country basis; (c) efforts to hold Russia to account, including by addressing mis- and dis-information in Australian public debate and the region; and (d) any related matters
Droneshield also had a page 2 written submission to the Senate Inquiry. It start with
Submission to the Inquiry into Australian support for Ukraine DroneShield is a medium-sized ASX-listed company focussed on Counter – Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS), otherwise referred to as counter-drone systems. These systems are designed, manufactured and supported from our Sydney Headquarters, leveraging an overwhelmingly Australian supply chain and exported all over the world. We supply many of Australia’s allies and have recently been selected to supply C-UAS capabilities under both a US military ‘Program of Record’ and the first C-UAS contract ever issued by the NATO procurement agency, NSPA.On a global level, DroneShield systems are widely considered to be the best available. Given the extreme drone-centric doctrines being employed in the Ukraine conflict, C-UAS systems are critical.DroneShield has well over 1000 individual systems currently in Ukraine: some donated by Australia and other allied governments, others purchased directly by Ukraine. Additionally, DroneShield staff have travelled to Ukraine, supporting and training Ukrainians using C-UAS technologies. We feel this context provides us a unique perspective to comment on the current Senate inquiry into Australian support for Ukraine
(20min delay)