DroneShield unveils 3 major upgrades transforming counter-drone defense

DroneShield, an Australian counter-drone technology company, has unveiled three major upgrades that transform how organizations detect, track, and neutralize unauthorized drones. These advances come as businesses, governments, and infrastructure operators face mounting pressure to secure increasingly crowded airspace from drone threats ranging from industrial espionage to terrorist attacks.

The company’s latest innovations address three critical challenges: distinguishing between legitimate aircraft and rogue drones, coordinating counter-drone operations across multiple sites, and deploying more intelligent jamming technology. Together, these updates represent a significant leap toward comprehensive airspace security management.

3 major DroneShield upgrades reshaping drone defense

1. ADS-B integration eliminates false alarms

DroneShield has integrated Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data into its DroneSentry-C2 platform, fundamentally changing how operators distinguish between authorized aircraft and potential threats. ADS-B is the same tracking system used by air traffic controllers worldwide to monitor commercial and private aircraft—essentially the digital identifier that tells controllers where every legitimate plane is flying.

By incorporating this data, DroneShield’s systems can now automatically filter out known aircraft from their threat detection, dramatically reducing false alarms that have plagued counter-drone operations. Previously, operators might receive alerts for helicopters, small planes, or emergency aircraft, forcing them to manually verify each detection. Now, the system instantly recognizes legitimate air traffic and focuses attention on genuinely suspicious activity.

“Integrating ADS-B data reflects our vision for a future of comprehensive airspace awareness,” explains Angus Bean, DroneShield’s chief product officer. “By including both crewed and uncrewed aviation data, we’re giving our customers the tools they need to make faster and safer decisions.”

This upgrade benefits organizations beyond military applications. Public safety agencies monitoring wildfire responses can now track both firefighting aircraft and potential drone interference simultaneously. Energy facilities can distinguish between routine helicopter inspections and unauthorized surveillance drones. Event security teams can separate news helicopters from potential security threats during major gatherings.

2. Enterprise command platform enables nationwide coordination

DroneShield’s new DroneSentry-C2 Enterprise (C2E) platform creates what amounts to mission control for national-level counter-drone defense. Rather than managing individual sites independently, C2E connects multiple installations—military bases, airports, energy grids, data centers—into a unified operational network.

The platform allows authorized users to monitor drone alerts across entire countries from a single interface. Operators can check system health in real time, view live camera feeds for immediate verification, and seamlessly transition between enterprise-level oversight and local site control. When drone threats emerge simultaneously across multiple critical infrastructure sites, C2E provides the coordinated response capability that individual systems cannot.

The first major deployment is scheduled for an Eastern NATO region in early 2025, where C2E will coordinate a growing network of DroneShield’s counter-drone installations. The platform includes SAPIENT protocol compatibility, allowing DroneShield systems to integrate seamlessly with NATO and allied defense networks. SAPIENT (Sensors for Asset Protection with Integrated Electronic Networked Technology) is NATO’s standard communication protocol for connecting different defense sensors and systems.

The platform also incorporates military-grade interface standards, including MIL-STD-2525 icons (standardized military symbols) and Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) coordinates, giving defense users familiar navigation and identification tools.

“C2E addresses the realities of modern airspace security,” Bean notes. “Governments and infrastructure operators must manage counter-drone operations across many distributed sites. C2E is designed specifically for those complex, national-scale environments.”

CEO Oleg Vornik positions C2E as “the final piece” of DroneShield’s three-tier software strategy, combining device-level tracking, site-level sensor integration, and enterprise-level command. This comprehensive approach supports the company’s goal of generating 30-40% of revenue from software-as-a-service offerings in coming years.

3. Advanced AI delivers smarter, faster jamming

DroneShield’s most significant software update introduces what the company calls its Emitter-Based Disruption Engine, powered by RFAI-ATK technology. This system represents a fundamental advancement in how counter-drone jamming works, moving from broad-spectrum interference to targeted, protocol-aware disruption.

Traditional drone jamming often works like a digital sledgehammer, broadcasting interference across wide frequency ranges to disrupt drone communications. DroneShield’s new approach functions more like a precision scalpel, identifying the specific communication protocol a drone uses—whether it’s Wi-Fi, proprietary radio signals, or cellular connections—and tailoring its jamming response accordingly. This targeted approach neutralizes threats more efficiently while minimizing interference with legitimate communications.

The system draws from DroneShield’s expanded RFAI-2 detection database, now the largest in the company’s history. This AI-trained library contains thousands of drone signal profiles, enabling operators to detect and classify even the newest drone models as they enter the market. The database continuously learns from field deployments, improving its accuracy over time.

Supporting this enhanced capability, the DroneSentry-X Mk2 hardware now delivers double the processing power of previous versions, enabling real-time tracking even in environments with multiple drones operating simultaneously. A new feature maintains limited detection capabilities during active jamming operations, providing essential backup awareness when systems are actively disrupting threats.

“This release reflects DroneShield’s ongoing growth as the world’s most trusted end-to-end counter-drone provider,” says Vornik. “Our vision is to see tens of thousands of devices deployed globally, all receiving regular software updates that make them smarter over time.”

Bean emphasizes the data-driven foundation of these advances: “Five years ago, we realized counter-UAS is a data problem. That’s why we built what we believe is the world’s largest proprietary drone signal database. It’s what powers our RFAI, RFAI-ATK, and SFAI systems today.”

Real-world implications

These three upgrades address practical challenges facing organizations across multiple sectors. Airport operators can now coordinate with air traffic control systems while maintaining security against drone incursions. Energy companies can protect multiple facilities through centralized monitoring while distinguishing between maintenance aircraft and potential threats. Government agencies can deploy coordinated responses across national infrastructure networks.

The integration of military-standard protocols also positions DroneShield’s systems for broader adoption within defense and security communities, where interoperability with existing systems often determines procurement decisions.

Market positioning

DroneShield’s comprehensive approach—combining detection, coordination, and intelligent response—reflects the evolving counter-drone market’s shift from point solutions to integrated platforms. As drone threats become more sophisticated and widespread, organizations increasingly seek unified systems that can scale from individual sites to national networks while maintaining compatibility with existing security infrastructure.

These updates demonstrate how counter-drone technology is maturing from reactive security measures into proactive airspace management systems, positioning DroneShield to capture growing demand for comprehensive aerial security solutions.