Mr Vornik said the ASX was well suited for what he called “DefTech”, smaller defence technology companies, even if they were excluded from environmental, social and governance-focused funds that did not back businesses that harmed the environment or profited from social damage or unrest.
“Yes, we are unmistakably a defence business and I think for a lot of ethical-focused funds that automatically excludes us, but we do try to explain to people that our products are more defensive than offensive in nature,” he said.
Jamming frequencies
“None of our products are able to harm a human being or even harm a drone, for that matter.”
DroneShield products, including the DroneGun Tactical and DroneGun Mk4, do not fire projectiles but rather “shoot” drones down by jamming electronic frequencies. The equipment is being used by Ukrainian forces and the US Department of Defence.
“It’s important to remember that defence serves as a deterrent. None of us want war,” Mr Vornik said.
He warned that we are living through a period of “grey-zone warfare” being waged via cyberattacks that are not visible to the general population.
“When we think about the hot, proper-scale wars, it’s a much bigger discussion. It’s clear that today Russia and China are the main protagonists,” he said.
“But we also need to be careful … even tomorrow if Putin is no longer in his place and the country happens to start disintegrating, then, what happens to the nuclear arsenal? Is it going to go to rogue actors?
“So I believe that, unfortunately, there is a very strong likelihood that in our lifetime, we’ll be seeing World War III.”
Separately at the Summit, Australian Institute of Company Directors CEO Mark Rigotti said the remilitarisation of Europe was a trend that Australian executives needed to think about and would be a magnet for skilled workers.
”Sweden – which has been neutral for many, many years – is doubling its expenditure on defence over three years. That’s like building the whole Australian Defence Force in three years, and that’s just one country,” he said.
Mr Rigotti, who recently led a trip with the European Australia Business Council, said all EU government ministers, whether in climate change or energy, were “thinking about their portfolios with a defence overlay”.
“I was struck that we are a long way away from that at the moment. But trends tend to arrive in Australia at some point.”
