Motley Fool Money – Interview with DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik

Date: February 1, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive interview with Oleg Vornik, CEO of DroneShield, an Australian defense company specializing in counter-drone technology. Hosted by Tom Gardner and produced by The Motley Fool, the conversation covers DroneShield’s evolution, product technology, civilian and military applications, safety concerns, market opportunities, and leadership philosophy. Vornik provides real-world examples of DroneShield's impact, discusses the escalating risks from drone attacks, and offers insights into the rapidly expanding market for counter-drone solutions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. DroneShield’s Mission and Origins

• Company Overview: DroneShield creates hardware and software to detect and take down drones, using non-kinetic, primarily electronic disruption methods — no physical destruction of drones or collateral damage.
  • “DroneShield makes hardware and software that detects and takes down drones. It uses completely soft approach so there's no physical harm to the drones or in fact any surrounding environment.” – Oleg Vornik [01:34]
• Founding Story: Founded in 2014 by two American scientists inspired by the Boston Marathon bombing, foreseeing the rise of drones as tools for bad actors.
  • “…the company was started by two American scientists...they had the vision that as drone technology was going to evolve, the bad guys would eventually start using it effectively.” – Vornik [01:55]
• “The first year was very much just a garage company until they had a conversation with a New York based fund manager who...gave them some seed money… and they knew me from previous experiences, I was a banker at the time…and the rest was history.” – Vornik [02:34]

2. Product Suite and Technology Approach

• First Major Demand & Key Clients:
  • Breakthrough came in 2018, when the Houthis used consumer drones to attack Saudi oil facilities — leading to DroneShield’s first multimillion-dollar customer (Saudi Arabia).
  • Early systems supplied to Poland were passed to Ukrainian forces, leading to significant deployments in Ukraine.
• Tech Explained:

  • Detection Method: Multi-layered—combining radio frequency (RF) sensing, radar, and cameras.

  • Defeat Mechanisms: Smart jamming disrupts drone communications (RF and satellite links). Kinetic “hard-kill” solutions (shooting or lasers) discouraged except in very limited, controlled settings.

  • Integration with Other Systems: System can tie into ‘good’ interceptor drones as part of the command and control suite.

  • “So you're looking for specialized software behind each of these modalities, RF, radar and camera to accurately fuse it together into a single track or tracking multiple drones at the same time.” – Vornik [06:30]

3. Real-World Applications: Military and Civilian

• Military Setting:

  • Example: RF Patrol, a body-worn drone detector used by Ukrainian soldiers, alerts soldiers to drone threats and saves lives.
  • “If you're a Ukrainian soldier...the device goes off and…you gotta stay where you are and wait for the Russian drone to go away…in addition to saving their lives, it actually gives them a lot of…psychological confidence.” – Vornik [08:22]

• Civilian Setting:

  • Example: Protecting data centers from espionage and cyber-attacks; DroneShield’s Sentry X alerts security when drones land on rooftops for network hacking attempts.
  • “Our device would basically alert the security of the data center that there's a drone coming…can attempt to land… and use the proximity, the wireless networks around the data center to hack into it and do a cyber attack or steal data.” – Vornik [09:45]

4. The Growing Risk: ‘Drone 9/11’ Scenario

• Escalating Threats:
  • Vornik warns of the inevitability of a mass-casualty “drone terror” event in the West, comparing the risk to pre-9/11 intelligence warnings.
  • “We're talking about a drone 911 type event and I think it's remarkable it hasn't happened and I really hope it never does. But probability is that it would.” – Vornik [11:51]
• Vulnerable Sites:
  • Open air stadiums, airports (due to risk of drone ingestion into aircraft engines), large-scale public gatherings, and critical infrastructure.
  • “A drone can easily come in [to a stadium]...somebody just strapping a piece of explosive to a drone and flying into a stadium and detonating...” – Vornik [13:53]
• Examples of Potential Civilian Harm:
  • Engine damage testing—FAA’s former practice of hurling frozen chickens at airliner engines, then seeking to test drone impacts and being rebuffed by manufacturers.
  • “Just think about it. You're taking a metal parts object with lithium ion batteries in it and throwing into an engine with really fine tolerances. It's not the same as flesh and bone or frozen chicken.” – Vornik [12:47]
• Ease of Anonymity:
  • Terrorists can operate remotely, making drone attacks attractive and difficult to trace.
  • “From a terrorist point of view, the attraction is you will probably not get caught because...you're just flying a drone from a remote location.” – Vornik [14:58]

5. Non-Military Markets: Why Civilian Demand Will Grow

• Opportunity Size:

  • Civilian counter-drone market is potentially as large, if not larger, than military—but with close to zero current penetration.
  • “The civilian market is as large and in time may even be larger than the military market…it’s probably zero, close to zero penetration.” – Vornik [15:55]

• Examples:

  • Critical infrastructure: Oil & gas fields, power plants, energy/nuclear facilities.
  • Prisons: Drones used for smuggling weapons or contraband—highlighting a dramatic case in Italy.
    • “Prisons have developed to be very good at stopping people from the ground up…But, delivering drugs, weapons, cigarettes, escape kits… [by drone]…no way to stop any of this.” – Vornik [16:37]

6. Personal and Professional Reflections

• On Respect for Other Defense Innovators:

  • “The growth has been insane and I think Palantir has really shown how you can move away from traditional defense primes and move into the new gen and defense technologies.” – Vornik [17:33]

• Personal Security Risks:

  • Named as an “enemy of the state” by Russia for DroneShield’s assistance to Ukraine.
  • “Well, I got put on the Russian government sanctions list, essentially being declared enemy of the state by Putin as part of our involvement in Ukraine…It is a worry…when you travel to places that have meaningful Russian community presence…” – Vornik [18:16]
  • On precautions: Avoiding real-time social media posts to minimize opportunistic threats.
    • “You don't put your morning breakfast on Instagram in real time revealing your location. You just have to be sensible…” – Vornik [18:53]

• Leadership Philosophy:

  • “First I recommend Ben Horowitz's book Hard Thing about Hard Things…I think that encapsulates a lot of my principles. But generally you just work hard and people observe you and they try to do the same, assuming they're the right kind of people.” – Vornik [19:34]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “That buzzing, annoying buzzing sound from a drone is just a bit of a nuisance for [us]. For them, it's full on trauma because you hear that thing like it's going to kill you.” – Oleg Vornik [00:05], [08:36]
• “The civilian market for counter-drone is probably zero, close to zero penetration.” – Oleg Vornik [15:57]
• “I think it's a miracle, honestly, that we've never seen anything like this and I think it's a matter of time.” – Oleg Vornik [14:59]
• “Prisons have developed to be very good at stopping people from the ground up delivering contraband, but…they are really not very good at stopping people delivering drugs, weapons, cigarettes, escape kits, Amazon style to prison windows.” – Oleg Vornik [16:27]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Company Origin and Vision – [01:34 - 03:12]
• Product Technology and First Major Demand – [03:12 - 07:14]
• Real-life Military Use Case (Ukraine) – [08:06 - 09:33]
• Civilian Use Case: Data Center Protection – [09:34 - 10:36]
• Rising Threat of Civilian Drone Attack (‘Drone 9/11’) – [11:51 - 15:17]
• Energy, Infrastructure, Prison Applications – [15:55 - 17:24]
• Personal and Company Leadership Thoughts – [17:24 - 19:34]

Tone and Style

Vornik’s candor, practical optimism, and deep technical understanding are evident throughout. He mixes anecdotal stories (from Ukrainian soldiers' feedback, to data center hacking attempts, to an FAA engine testing tale) with direct calls to action on the lack of preparedness in civilian sectors—urging awareness and proactive deployment of counter-drone tech.

For investors and innovators, this episode is a lucid breakdown of a high-growth, crucial technology segment—highlighting both global risk and opportunity.