Australian company Department 13 launches innovative counter-drone solution

Department 13 has commercially launched its flagship counter-drone product, MESMER Version 1.0, a unique, patented, low-power, non-jamming, non-line-of-sight, non-kinetic drone mitigation solution, enabling an effective and safe method of protecting personnel and infrastructure from dangerous drones. With customer demonstrations and trials of MESMER currently underway, the company has secured global distributor agreements to support the launch.

Jonathan Hunter, CEO of Department 13, said:

“MESMER is designed to secure commercial, public or government airspace from the increasing threat of drones. It utilises unrivalled protocol manipulation technology, enabling it to take control of drones and land them safely in a defined exclusion zone. Our solution is superior to other technologies available in the market that jam or shoot drones down and pose significant risk for the personnel and infrastructure they are designed to protect. Having delivered MESMER on time and on budget, Department 13’s focus is now to drive sales, both directly and through our partner channels, and to establish the product as the global market leader in counter-drone technology.”

The MESMER platform uses sophisticated automated detection and mitigation strategies to stop, redirect, land or take control of drones across a range of national security, defence and commercial scenarios. MESMER’s key differentiator is its ability to manipulate weaknesses in all digital radio protocols and take control of a drone’s computer, allowing it to land drones safely by flying them into a defined exclusion zone.

The patented technology is built on open source software architecture ensuring it can seamlessly integrate into existing security and surveillance systems, making it attractive to a range of government and commercial partners, including military bases, prisons, stadiums, airports and other critical infrastructure. The vast range of applications support forecasts for the counter-drone market to reach US$1.14 billion by 2022, according to the Markets and Markets Anti-Drone market report.

A number of tier-one customers have commenced commercial trials and scheduled demonstrations of MESMER, which follow a series of successful validation exercises conducted last year including Black Dart and the MITRE Challenge. Department 13’s global distribution network enables MESMER to be marketed to an initial 37 countries. The sales channel comprises strategic partners Booz Allen Hamilton in the United States, EPE in Australasia, Phoenix Group in Latin America and ISM in the UK and Europe.