DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares are starting the week in the red.
In morning trade, the counter drone technology company's shares are down 8% to $5.86.
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Why are DroneShield shares tumbling?
Investors have been selling the company's shares this morning after a market meltdown on Wall Street spooked investors and offset the release of another positive announcement.
According to the release, its DroneSentry multi-layered counter drone solution has been successfully evaluated by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA).
The NPSA is an agency of the United Kingdom Government. It provides UK Government agency standard evaluation for counter drone systems, providing confidence to prospective buyers of the solution following NPSA's rigorous testing.
The DroneSentry solution is now included within their Catalogue of Security Equipment (CSE).
In addition, the release notes that DroneShield's extensive range of counter drone solutions are available exclusively through BT Group (LSE: BT.A) within the UK.
And while the company acknowledges that the dollar amount of expected sales associated with the NPSA results cannot be quantified at this time, it notes that it is expected to be material as demand for counter drone solutions rises. It intends to provide further guidance when it becomes available.
The DroneSentry solution comprises an upfront purchase of hardware, combined with one or multiple SaaS packages. These solutions have been deployed to date in Europe, Asia Pacific, the US, South America, and Australia.
Commenting on the news, DroneShield's CEO, Oleg Vornik, said:
This is an exciting step forward and a public endorsement of the quality and performance of our solutions, for both the UK and other markets. It comes at a critical geopolitical time of rapidly escalating drone incidents across Europe, as our customers seek to deploy counterdrone protection across a wide range of facilities, starting from a very low or no existing deployments due to the nascent nature of the sector.
BT Group's Future Connected Solutions Director, Dave Pankhurst, spoke positively about DroneShield and its technology. He adds:
BT has worked with DroneShield for a number of years in the UK, coupling our deep understanding of customer needs with DroneShield's technology. This NPSA recognition highlights DroneShield's commitment to developing leading edge counter drone solutions with the most robust security credentials.
Following today's move, DroneShield shares continue to absolutely smash the market and are up almost 700% since the start of the year.
