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Flying attack drones seem to be everywhere these days, striking the Middle East and the battlefields of Ukraine.
Dronebusters, made by Dzyne Technologies of Irvine, introduces a portable way to stop the airborne weapons.
The company’s newest product looks similar to a boxy gun and is equipped with a radio and electronic equipment for detection and targeting small, unmanned aircraft systems. The new version introduced in February allows soldiers on the ground to carry the lightweight system in a backpack and then, in military jargon, “mitigate” inbound threats.
Dronebusters don’t fly. Instead, the user points the electronic weapon at the drones and attacks them with radio waves rather than bullets.
“They just point the Dronebuster and select what type of mitigation they want. They’ll jam command and control. They’ll jam GPS,” George Schwartz, Dzyne’s executive vice president for air defense strategy and growth, told the Business Journal.
That will cause the drone to land or fall to Earth, ideally without hitting anyone on the ground.
“Normally they will just vertically descend and land in their current position,” he told the Business Journal on March 28.
Dronebusters’ radios and electronics can also “hijack” the drone’s navigation system and move it away from the intended target.
The new version’s biggest advantage is its portability.
“Now you have the ability for a single person to be able to wear this system and be able to detect drones out to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles),” Schwartz said.
Increased Drone Use
Drone strikes have increased tremendously in recent years in countries such as Ukraine and in the Middle East, and many of them are commercially made.
Many drones are also used for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions.
The company has more than 150 employees at its headquarters in Irvine while it has 15 employed at its other offices in Fairfax in northern Virginia.
Dronebuster is manufactured in Portland, Oregon, while the company’s airborne systems are manufactured in Irvine. It also has offices in Boise, Idaho.
CEO Matthew McCue, who co-founded Dzyne in 2012, is based in Irvine.
In August, Dzyne announced the addition of retired Vice Admiral Collin Green as chief strategy officer.
Christopher Miller joined Dzyne in August of 2023 as head of defense initiatives. He had previously served as a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, director of the National Counterterrorism Center and acting U.S. Secretary of Defense at the end of the first Trump presidential administration.
The 125,000-square-foot site at 34 Parker in Irvine is Dzyne Technologies’ main manufacturing hub and may be expanded, said the company’s chief external affairs officer, Joe Francescon.
Introduced at Middle East Conference
Dzyne introduced the original Dronebuster about 10 years ago.
The company unveiled the newest model of the Dronebuster, called the DTIM (Detect, Track, Identify, Mitigate) Kit, in February at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in the United Arab Emirates.
The new model features a radio and electronic system that easily can become portable to detect, target and neutralize hostile drones, including those coming in at high speeds.
“This compact, lightweight and portable system kit upgrades the Dronebuster defeat system by incorporating a wearable detection and identification capability without compromising agility or maneuverability in the field,” according to the company.
Dzyne has started to market the new Dronebuster DTIM Kit after selling more than 2,000 of the original units.
The company sees a clear advantage with the new system: where there’s a soldier, there can be an effective Dronebuster, which can lock onto any of the various radio communication bands used by commercial drones.
The system also works from fixed positions.
“If it’s moving fast, you just need to start the mitigation early,” Schwartz said. “Our system is a jammer. It doesn’t go after it like a rifle or a gun.”
Neutralizing Threats
“It’s not just a detection system. It’s a full-spectrum solution that empowers operators to neutralize threats in real-time, ensuring battlefield superiority in an era where drones pose an ever-growing risk,” CEO McCue said.
“They’ll know if it’s a friendly one or something that could be hostile. That’s really the big advance compared to a lot of the systems that are out there right now.”
The company declines to disclose the price for each unit. The biggest competitor is DroneShield, an Australian company (see story, this page).
The major customers include the U.S. military as well as overseas buyers.
“Lots of them are sold to the military because again so many of the drones that are threats out there are commercially available drones.”
Drones Made for Military
Schwartz says that Dronebusters won’t currently work against military-grade drones, which operate with secure communications that Dronebusters can’t yet penetrate.
Military grade drones are being manufactured by Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa, as well as Northrup Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) among others.
Dzyne itself is also entering this crowded field for military drones, including a model called the Ultra, in an additional part of the business.
Dronebusters also have the potential to neutralize drones threatening stadiums, critical infrastructure and other civilian sites.
However, Schwartz says the thicket of overlapping U.S. laws and regulations has been interpreted to bar Dronebuster and similar systems from being used by local police.
“We’re hoping that’s going to change. There are several bills going through Congress this year to try to address this,” he said.
Dzyne says Australia Company Biggest Competitor
DroneShield Ltd is considered the top competitor to Dzyne Technologies’ Dronebuster, says George Schwartz, EVP of the Irvine-based firm.
The Australian company (ASX: DRO) uses a similar boxy-looking device shaped a bit like a gun. It generated about USD $36 million in sales in 2024 and has a USD $493 million market cap.
“Our capabilities are used to protect military, government, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, commercial and VIPs throughout the world,” DroneShield says on its website.
The company was formed in 2014 in Virginia and then was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange where it became “substantially Australian owned,” the company said on its website. Its team nowadays is split between Sydney and Virginia.
DroneShield says it offers both customized and off-the-shelf products. It says it has partners in 70 countries.
Besides a drone gun, it also offer stationary kits for towers and kits that can be attached to the roofs of jeeps or boats.