The Droneshield Ltd (ASX: DRO) share price is rocketing higher today.
Shares in the ASX tech company, which provides drone protection devices, are currently up 9.8% trading at 22.5 cents, having earlier posted gains of more than 14%.
Ukrainian demand buoys Droneshield share price
The Droneshield share price is leaping higher today amid news of strong demand for the company's drone defence systems from Ukraine.
The company already supplies its anti-drone technologies to militaries, police, and private enterprises across the world.
But following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Droneshield's CEO Oleg Vornik said (quoted by The Australian Financial Review), "We literally received a few dozen inquiries from various Ukrainian government agencies over the last month that we need Droneshield equipment."
The company has already sent a shipment of hand-held drone detection devices and its Drone Gun to the embattled nation. The Drone Gun disables enemy drones by jamming their electronic frequencies.
A European nation, as yet anonymous, paid for the initial shipment of anti-drone devices that were delivered into Ukraine.
Vornik hopes the Aussie government will step up to help fund the next shipment.
"We are hopeful of getting the Australian government or maybe somebody else to get our gear funded so we can get it over there," he said.
Take down the drones
Vornik explained that the Russian military does not yet control the skies above Ukraine. Instead, it is depending on drones with plenty of non-Russian parts for its battlefield planning.
"They would essentially scout in an area and see Ukrainian positions and then send artillery shells in that direction. Our equipment would take out those scouting drones," he said.
Vornik continued (quoted by the AFR):
The fascinating thing with the Russian drones which may sound surprising is they use a lot of non-Russian parts. They use a lot of American parts, European parts, Chinese parts.
I was worried when we did the first sale because I wasn't sure how effective our gear was going to be because we've never tested it against Russian technology before. But it seems because they are using a lot of foreign parts, our equipment is effective against it.
The feedback from the war front has been positive in terms of the impact against Russian drones.
Droneshield share price snapshot
The Droneshield share price has been a strong performer this year, up 25% since the opening bell on 4 January.
In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 8% year-to-date.
