DroneShield and Fortem Technologies are both front-rank counter-UAS suppliers to US and allied forces, but they solve the defeat problem with opposite physics. DroneShield is an ASX-listed pure-play built on AI radio-frequency detection and electronic-warfare jamming, with 2025 revenue near AU$216.5 million and a pipeline above AU$2.55 billion. Fortem is a private, Lockheed Martin-backed company that pairs its TrueView radar with the DroneHunter autonomous interceptor to physically capture targets, and is now a directly authorised US Army counter-drone supplier. One disrupts the drone's control link; the other flies out and catches the drone.
Side By Side
| DroneShield | Fortem Technologies | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia (with Virginia, USA operations) | Lindon, Utah, USA |
| Status | Public (ASX: DRO) | Private (Lockheed Martin strategic investor) |
| Primary Defeat Method | AI RF detection and electronic-warfare jamming | Radar detection (TrueView) plus autonomous kinetic interceptor (DroneHunter) |
| Operational Outcome | Disrupts the command link; target returns home, hovers, or descends | Physically intercepts and captures the target drone via net |
| Flagship Products | DroneSentry-X, DroneGun Mk4, DroneCannon | TrueView radar, DroneHunter F700, SkyDome |
| Effect Against Preprogrammed Attack Drones | RF defeat is strongest against C2-linked commercial drones | DroneHunter F700 publicly confirmed against the Shahed-136 (Group-3) |
| Scale Signal | 2025 revenue AU$216.5M; pipeline AU$2.55B+ across 300+ projects | $18M three-year US Army contract (Feb 2026); US Army direct-sale authorisation |
| Capital Position | ASX-listed; AU$235.2M cash, no debt | $79.3M pre-Series B plus Lockheed Martin $25M Series B tranche (Apr 2026) |
| NDAA / Federal Procurement | Compliant | Compliant (sole-source authorised) |
JAMMING VS KINETIC INTERCEPTION
DroneShield's electronic-warfare approach disrupts the radio link between a drone and its operator, after which the target executes its fail-safe behaviour: return home, hover, or descend. It is fast to deploy, hardware-mature, and effective across the commercial drones that dominate most threat environments, which is reflected in DroneShield's roughly four-fold revenue growth into 2025. The structural limit is that link disruption does little against a drone that is not relying on a live link.
Fortem addresses exactly that gap. The DroneHunter F700 is radar-cued by TrueView and flies out to net-capture its target, with public confirmation of capability against the Shahed-136, the preprogrammed one-way attack drone that flies a fixed GPS route and ignores command-link jamming. The trade is that kinetic interception is a discrete, per-target engagement rather than an area effect, so throughput against saturating raids depends on interceptor inventory and reload. In practice the two are increasingly layered: RF defeat for the commercial-drone baseline, kinetic interception for the attack-drone profiles that jamming cannot reach.
PROCUREMENT AND CAPITAL POSTURE
DroneShield's ASX listing gives buyers revenue, pipeline, and balance-sheet visibility that private vendors cannot match, plus a broad international order book spanning NATO, US federal, and Indo-Pacific customers. For procurement teams that value a financially transparent pure-play with proven manufacturing throughput, that is a meaningful advantage.
Fortem's posture is defined by its prime relationship. Lockheed Martin's April 2026 $25 million Series B tranche converts a strategic partnership into venture capital and signals that the largest US defence prime views Fortem's integrated detect-and-defeat stack as integration-grade for its own air-defence portfolios. Combined with the November 2025 US Army direct-sale authorisation and the February 2026 $18 million Army contract, Fortem is aligned to US military counter-UAS procurement in a way a listed Australian pure-play is not.
When To Choose
Choose DroneShield if:
- Broad RF defeat against C2-linked commercial drone populations
- Fixed-site, maritime, and tactical deployments needing mature, fast-to-field hardware
- Procurement preference for a listed pure-play with revenue visibility and a large international pipeline
Choose Fortem Technologies if:
- Defeat of preprogrammed one-way attack drones (Shahed-class) that ignore link jamming
- Need for physical capture with low radio-frequency collateral
- US Army procurement alignment and Lockheed Martin integration in one radar-plus-interceptor stack
Full Profiles
DroneShield
Sydney, Australia (with Virginia, USA operations) · ASX: DRO
Pure-play counter-UAS. Publicly listed Australian-headquartered specialist in AI-based detection and electronic-warfare drone defeat solutions for terrestrial, maritime, and airborne platforms.
View profile →Fortem Technologies
Lindon, Utah, USA · Private
Counter-UAS platform combining radar detection (TrueView) and autonomous interceptor drones (DroneHunter). Lockheed Martin strategic investor; sole-source US Army counter-drone supplier.
View profile →Sources & References
Drone Intelligence, Comparison. Compiled from public filings, primary sources, and verified disclosures. Last updated 15 June 2026.
paul@droneintelligence.ai