Australia signs C-UAS research acceleration agreement with DroneShield

Australian C-UAS specialist DroneShield has developed weapons such as DroneGun (pictured above) that could be deployed by the ADF. (Commonwealth of Australia)

Australia's Department of Defence (DoD) has signed an agreement with local company DroneShield to accelerate research and development of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs) for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The DoD announced on 25 February that it has signed a three-year bilateral collaborative research agreement with DroneShield, which is intended to enable the DoD's Defence Science and Technology Group and DroneShield to share technical information and test facilities to develop C-UASs.

The DoD said, “Research and development are the cornerstone of advancing next-generation defence capabilities, which are essential if Australia is to obtain a decisive edge in complex operational environments.

“Working together with industry to share counter-drone research delivers significant benefits for national security, helps drive innovation within the domestic defence sector, and helps ensure sovereign capability in an increasingly contested technological environment.”

The agreement follows the establishment of a C-UAS-industry panel in January 2026, which includes DroneShield among 27 other companies. At the time, the DoD said the panel will advise it and other government agencies on C-UAS solutions that are effective against small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The new panel was set up to support the DoD's Land 156 project, which was launched in February 2025 to establish a layered and distributed C-UAS capability intended to enable the ADF to detect, track, identify, and neutralise small UAVs.

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