DroneShield Limited (ASX:DRO) (“DroneShield” or the “Company”), a global leader in Counter-UAS and Artificial Intelligence based security technology, has announced the appointment of Matt McCrann as Chief Executive Officer of its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary DroneShield LLC.

Matt McCrann joined DroneShield LLC in 2019 as Vice President of Sales and will lead the growth and expansion of the company’s U.S. based organization.   

“The customers we serve and the problems we solve make the work at DroneShield both exciting and rewarding,” McCrann stated. “We have a strong, adaptable team as demonstrated by our revenue and company growth over the past two years. Our commitment to our customers and the strength of our engineering have allowed us to become the leader in counter-drone and we continue to push the envelope with our Artificial Intelligence and Electronic Warfare capabilities. I’m honored to accept this appointment and eager to continue our commitment to our partners across defense, homeland security, and law enforcement.”    

Oleg Vornik, CEO of Sydney based DroneShield Limited (the listed parent company), commented, “Matt has done outstanding work since joining the DroneShield team, positioning our counter-UAS, Electronic Warfare and ISR solutions with a wide range of high-profile Defense and government agencies, while rapidly scaling our team and operations in the U.S. This appointment greatly aligns with DroneShield’s commitment to serving the U.S. market and will enable DroneShield to support at scale our customer base in the U.S.”

Prior to joining DroneShield, McCrann held Director level leadership positions at rapid growth scale-ups, successfully building and leading business units serving the Defense and Intelligence markets. McCrann is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Intelligence Community and has also performed in management roles across both engineering and operations, during a career spanning more than two decades.       

DroneShield develops advanced layered solutions for handheld, on-the-move, and facility detection and protection against unmanned system threats. DroneShield also recently announced DoD Artificial Intelligence Contract and first of its kind ACMA exemption to undertake Electronic Warfare research.

Additional information about DroneShield is available at www.droneshield.com.

This collaboration will allow Zenith AeroTech to meet larger production goals for its line of tethered aerial vehicles while being fully compliant with National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) regulations

AFTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zenith AeroTech, a leading developer of heavy-lift tethered aerial vehicles (TAVs), announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with VIRTEX Enterprises (“VIRTEX”), an Austin-based electronics manufacturing service provider, to meet increasing customer demand for more TAVs in shorter timeframes and for these platforms to be NDAA compliant.

“Zenith brings years of custom-made TAV and free-flight drone design and manufacturing experience, while VIRTEX—an AS 9100 accredited organization—contributes its sought-after advanced electronics design, manufacturing, and testing capabilities.”

“This new partnership allows our two companies to leverage their individual areas of expertise,” said Kutlay Kaya, chairman of Zenith AeroTech. “Zenith brings years of custom-made TAV and free-flight drone design and manufacturing experience, while VIRTEX—an AS 9100 accredited organization—contributes its sought-after advanced electronics design, manufacturing, and testing capabilities.”

Zenith AeroTech offers industry, Federal government, first responder, telecommunications, and military customers the option of three different, highly customizable TAV platforms: Hexa, Quad 8, and Quadro. Thanks to Zenith’s Ground Power-Tether Management System, these TAVs can stay aloft for days at a time, delivering true persistent surveillance.

VIRTEX provides engineering services, design, system level integration, PCBA and full life cycle management services for the aerospace, military, and commercial market. These services are delivered in vertically integrated solutions with an aim towards long-term customer partnerships.

“VIRTEX’s U.S.-based manufacturing capability and its specialized aerospace experience will ensure that Zenith products are all American-made and fully NDAA compliant, unlike other drone suppliers,” said Kaya. “VIRTEX will also allow Zenith to scale up production to meet larger volume orders in a shorter timeframe.”

Meanwhile, Zenith will help VIRTEX enter the growing, technically sophisticated small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) market, with introductions to new defense and law enforcement customers.

Dana Pittman, Executive VP of VIRTEX, noted that the combination of the two companies brings with it a great deal of technical depth.

“The vertical capabilities of our two companies include full system design, manufacture and integrated test,” Pittman said. “We offer leading-edge custom solutions that support multiple channels, including defense. With this partnership, VIRTEX and Zenith will build complex systems to address diverse and complex problem sets.”