DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) has announced that its first European-made Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C‑UAS) has rolled off the production line in a major achievement for the company, but the news failed to shore up the share price on Monday morning.
DroneShield shares traded as low as $2.86 before recovering slightly to be 2% lower at $2.90 on Monday morning.
The shares are 70% higher over the past 12 months but are currently well shy of the high of $6.70 reached during that period.
Image source: Getty Images
Major milestone achieved
The Australian counter-drone technology company said the newly-manufactured European system delivers the same performance as its locally-made systems.
The company added:
While the Australian manufactured product continues to be supported by a predominantly Australian supply chain, the European manufactured product has been produced through a contract manufacturing arrangement with a primarily European supply chain, strengthening regional resilience and sovereign capability.
The announcement was made on the opening day of the Eurosatory 2026 conference in Paris, where the company said military and security end-users can visit DroneShield's stand and experience demonstrations of its drone detection and counter-measure systems.
DroneShield Chief Commercial Officer Louis Gamarra said it was an important milestone for the company.
He added:
This is just the beginning, as DroneShield expands its production capabilities into Europe. With a strong pipeline of next-generation products coming online, European customers can have confidence that these capabilities will be built and supported within the EU.
DroneShield said the announcement came amid increased investment across Europe to bolster defence industrial capacity, "including initiatives such as the European Union's Readiness 2030 framework, which is focused on strengthening industrial capability and accelerating defence readiness across member states''.
DroneShield added:
DroneShield's European manufacturing capability directly supports these objectives, enabling faster delivery timelines, improved supply assurance and enhanced operational alignment with European defence customers.
The company said it expected a further expansion of its European manufacturing operations to meet growing regional demand.
Growing European footprint
DroneShield opened its European headquarters in March, saying at the time it showed the company's commitment to supplying the region.
The company said at the time:
The new Headquarters will serve as an operational base for DroneShield's EU Centre of Excellence and aligns with the EU's ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030 initiative, which seeks to boost military spending, strengthen industrial sovereignty, and accelerate support for Ukraine. It further builds on DroneShield's newly established European manufacturing footprint to advance sovereign counter-UAS capability, which marks a major expansion of the Company's European industrial footprint and manufacturing capacity.
DroneShield also earlier this month announced a $24.9 million contract linked to the US Department of War's Joint Interagency Task Force 401.
