AUSA 2024: MyDefence announces new R&D facility in Oklahoma

The Wingman-105 is one of MyDefence's wearable drone detection systems. (MyDefence Communication)

Danish counter-drone technology firm MyDefence announced that it is opening a second US location in Oklahoma on 15 October during the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, DC. The research and development (R&D) facility will be built in the new Convergence development near downtown Oklahoma City as part of an initial USD1.2 million investment, according to a statement from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. It is expected to create 48 new jobs, the statement said.

MyDefence opened its first office in Tampa, Florida, where US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is headquartered, because it was working closely with the command on counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs), Dan Hermansen, CEO of MyDefence, told Janes on 15 October.

The R&D facility is intended to enable the company to work more closely with US partners with fewer barriers, Jan Johansson, chief technology officer for MyDefence, told Janes. “Quite a few of our US customers have requested, and even the US Army has requested, that we have a US entity that they can talk to”, because otherwise the company does not have the clearances to discuss signals intelligence.

Oklahoma is a hub for C-UAS technology development, and “when it became obvious that the army C-UAS centre of excellence was going to be at Fort Sill” along with the Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma University C-UAS centre of excellence in Oklahoma City, it was a good fit, he said. The state also offers almost 1 million acres of land “to do flight operations and research and development”, Oklahoma State Senator Adam Pugh said during the event.