Edgesource donates $2M in small UAV counter-drone tech to Ukraine

Edgesource, a small company providing contracting services and tech to US government agencies, has revealed that over the course of 2022, it donated $2 million worth of its counter-drone detection system for smaller UAVs to Ukraine for its battle against Russia’s invasion.

Based in the Washington, DC, area, Edgesource contributed early and often to Ukraine’s defense by providing the same counter-drone system it supplies US government and public agencies to deal with the rapidly expanding numbers of UAVs in operation. Following Russia’s invasion of the country last February, Edgesource quickly moved to begin donating those assets to Kyiv in coordination with the US Pentagon and Special Operations Forces, the Embassy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and Ukrainian Special Forces.

Read: Ukraine seeks 1,000 ‘FPV kamikaze drones’ in new funding drive 

Edgesource said Monday those contributions totaled $2 million in the over 10 months since Moscow unleashed its offensive against Ukraine, coming in the form of the company’s Windtalker counter-drone platform for smaller UAVs, and accompanying Dowding common operating system. 

Windtalker detects and locates drones, their pilots, and 30 different kinds of operational data – including craft serial number, location, operator position, flight path, velocity, and altitude ­– over a range of 35-plus kilometers. 

The Dowding system provides a full-screen interface with real-time visual information and intelligence reports on UAV activity in the surrounding area through an easy-to-use map similar to those on smartphone apps. Edgesourse says the Dowding component can be deployed and used effectively by operators with less than an hour of instruction.

Since the conflict began, Edgesource says its counter-drone tech has been deployed by Ukraine forces to detect, identify, and mitigate threats from UAVs in combat situations as well as in the nation’s cities. Company chief operating officer Joe Urbaniak said the company’s involvement permitted it to support what it believes is a just cause by donating tech perfectly adapted to the changed nature of warfare.

“The Washington Post recently called the Ukrainian conflict ‘the first full-scale drone war’ in history, and I have to agree,” said Urbaniak. “Given the capabilities of our Windtalker and Dowding system, we knew early on that we could help – and donating these systems at the outset of the conflict to Ukraine was the right thing to do to protect Ukrainian cities, civilians, and front-line units.”

Read: Fortem anti-UAV tech upgrade can neutralize larger drones now battering Ukraine cities 

The effectiveness of its counter-drone systems in Ukraine may have partially inspired Edgesource’s decision late last year to make that tech available to private sector clients similarly wanting to detect and identify UAVs penetrating controlled airspaces around company facilities, utility compounds, infrastructure, or large outdoor events like football and baseball games. 

In December the company did that by launching the EdgesourceX product, which includes versions WindtalkerX and DowdingX platforms adapted for private client detection of the rapidly proliferating drones aloft in US skies.