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ASX-listed DroneShield’s counter-UAS system helped protect Brazil’s president-elect from suspicious drone activity during the nation’s recent presidential inauguration ceremony, shooting down four unknown drones.
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During the ceremony, it was confirmed that the Brazilian federal police used the DroneShield counter-UAS system to “neutralise” four suspicious drones that were seen moving towards the president.
Earlier in the morning, it was also reported that police responded to a bomb threat in a centrally located train station.
Dubbed the DroneGun Tactical, the company’s counter-UAS system is a handheld product that emits jamming frequencies to overcome a variety of uncrewed aerial threats.
Typically, drones respond to the jamming by retuning to the remote control, starting point, or by vertically landing.
The Planalto Palace ceremony, which was attended by tens of thousands of supporters, saw Lula da Silva return to office for the third time.
Despite the security threats, 77-year-old President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva continued by taking part in the historic car parade.
DroneShield first expanded into the Brazilian market in 2021, after securing approval from Brazil’s national telecommunications agency allowing the company to deploy its devices.
Since then, the company has sold the DroneGun Tactical to the Brazilian government, including to the presidential security.
“Brazil is a key South American market for DroneShield, and we are pleased to see deployment of our systems in the country at the highest level, which is expected to flow down to further systems being utilised in Brazil, as counter-UAS requirements continue to rapidly grow,” Oleg Vornik, DroneShield chief executive officer, explained.
In late 2022, the company confirmed it had completed a $3.7 million share placement of 18.5 million fully paid ordinary shares with US technology company Epirus Inc.
Accordingly, Epirus has acquired a 4.1 per cent shareholding interest in DroneShield.
Epirus is a software-defined directed energy systems solutions provider. Its suite of offerings includes Leonidas TM solid-state, software-defined high-power microwave (HPM) technology, designed to enable unmatched counter-electronics effects.
DroneShield is expected to leverage the capital to:
- scale-up ready inventory and long lead items, to rapidly fulfil anticipated orders;
- continue scaling up engineering and operations to support current momentum; and
- fund general working capital.
[Related: DroneShield receives counter-drone contract]
