Draganfly Drones: Designed to Protect and Defend the Homeland and Battlefields Globally

February 28, 2023

Drones are changing the face of battlefields and homeland response. Take war-related demining as one example. Traditional methods involve people walking through fields with sticks. That’s time consuming and dangerous. It will take 20 or more years to demine Ukraine. Every day of war adds about 30 days of the mining work that has to occur later. Drones can help pinpoint the location of mines and provide a guide for safe passage.

Pivoting to the homefront, statistics indicate that 12 to up to 30 percent of 9-1-1- calls are returned as false alarms. Sending out a drone as a first responder can provide first eyes on any situation. This situational awareness data can alleviate the need to send an ambulance, police or fire response unit in the case of a real false alarm.

Draganfly has focused its hardware and software designs specifically for these, and related, use cases, in its effort to help protect and defend the homeland and battlefields across the globe. In this interview, Cameron Chell, CEO and President of Draganfly, provides his perspective on how the company supports militaries overseas and public safety and law enforcement operations at home through its end-to-end solutions.

Dawn Zoldi: Let’s talk about the Draganfly Commander 3XL. Why did you create it?

Cameron Chell: There’s a lot of small drones on the market that can be used at a very tactical level, such as for surveillance and reconnaissance. Our customers told us there was a need for a replacement for the DJI M600. The Commander 3XL was our answer to that call.

Dawn Zoldi: Give us some of the specs for the Commander 3XL.

Cameron Chell: We refer to our Commander 3XL as the “Swiss Army Knife” of drones because it is one of the most versatile and efficient drones on the market for light to medium lift. It’s a workhorse, with the ability to rapidly interchange up to 17 different payloads. It uses the same kind of rails that all the DJI sensors fit on, so it’s plug and play. It weighs 24 pounds and can carry 26 pounds in additional payload. It boasts a 55 minute flight time. We designed it with a rectangular fuselage to maximize capabilities. We didn’t intend for it to look like the sexiest drone out there, but rather the most efficient one. We also added a whole host of software onboard, plus we can import other software. The back orders are significant. We believe it will set the new standard within the industry.

Dawn Zoldi: Could you provide us an example of a real world use for the Commander 3XL?

Cameron Chell: We have a lot of great examples. Public safety agencies use the Commander 3XL for “drone as a first responder” or DFR. It has all of the capabilities and characteristics of smaller drones but the ability to carry bigger payloads, such as medical kits or additional sensors including LiDAR. Fire brigades use it for the delivery of supplies, including chainsaws.

It fits right into that sweet spot: it’s not really a heavy lift drone right that requires FAA exemptions but it’s more than just an optical drone for visual observation.

Dawn Zoldi: Congress has put into place some bans on Chinese drones and components, and some states are starting to do this. Is the Commander 3XL “made in America.”?

Cameron Chell: Yes, we have been making our drones in North America for almost 25 years. We manufacture in both in the United States and in Canada.

Dawn Zoldi: Let’s talk about the Draganfly Heavy Lift Drone.

Cameron Chell: Sure. This thing’s nine feet across, but literally breaks down and folds up into something that you can carry just as conveniently as a briefcase. Our engineers created this ingenious design. It can carry over 60 pounds in payload capacity, with a flight time of 50 minutes plus – and even longer with some extended batteries. It also comes with multiple release mechanisms, whether drop-and-land or a winch. It’s perfect for delivery applications such as military logistics, commercial last mile delivery and public safety. Like the Commander 3XL, our customers demanded this type of design.

Dawn Zoldi: Could you elaborate on the resilience of the Draganfly Heavy Lift Drone?

Cameron Chell: The Heavy Lift Drone is hyper resilient, when it comes to weather and harsh environments. We designed the propellers, the motor, the engines, the coding and the wiring to be fully ruggedized. We do testing at our Texas facility, where we crank up the heat and put our drones to the test in terms of wind. On the Vancouver Coast, we get hammered on the rain side and do testing in those conditions. So we’re pretty excited about the Heavy Lift Drone’s resiliency.

Dawn Zoldi: By way of comparison, if the Commander 3XL can carry a chainsaw, how many chainsaws could the Heavy Lift Drone carry?

Cameron Chell: It certainly depends how big the chainsaw is, but it can carry multiple chainsaws. Importantly, it can carry those chainsaws at higher altitudes and further distances. For example, our firefighting customers don’t have to deploy a helicopter or an ATV when somebody needs equipment immediately.

Dawn Zoldi: What are some of the benefits of using these drones for your customers?

Cameron Chell: As I mentioned, you can put some pretty heavy and big sensors on these drones, but especially the Draganfly Heavy Lift Drone. This includes LiDAR systems that before had to be used on airplanes or helicopters. Benefits include both cost and access. Using a drone, you can get the LiDAR closer to the subject. This increases the resolution in the point cloud, which means better quality data. The drones can also carry multiple sensors at the same time. This equates to more data and greater time savings.

Dawn Zoldi: Speaking of sensors, one of your newer products includes a best-in-class laser scanner. Tell us why you created it.

Cameron Chell: We created that for a number of reasons including customer concerns over using Chinese or foreign national products. The sensor is more important than the drone, in terms of collecting data. A lot of North American-made sensors in this category were quite expensive. So we tried to come in with a very sophisticated LiDAR sensor package that’s priced below the typical North American ones. While it’s more expensive than a Chinese product, it has all the security assurances and warranties that flow from being manufactured in North America. We’re seeing great uptake and interest because of that.

Dawn Zoldi: You’ve also added a new lithium battery communication technology suite to your lineup. Tell us about why you did that and how it improves missions.

Cameron Chell: Steve Jobs said it best, in the context of the iPhone product design: “In electronics, everything begins and ends with battery life.” Batteries are the gating item or limiting factor in absolutely everything you do. There are some great battery manufacturers out there that we use. We also implement our own tech for certain environments or missions, to help optimize exactly what a drone can do in a very specific use case or location. That’s one of Draganfly’s many advantages. We have that level of experience to provide customers with a strategic advantage with specialized batteries and engineering.

Dawn Zoldi: Tell us about your intelligence technology and how it enhances customer insights.

Cameron Chell: Nothing collects data better than a drone, and our Vital Intelligence tech provides the ability for our cameras to read the vital signs of subjects on the ground. That was not only important during the pandemic. It’s critical for search and rescue, humanitarian missions, military operations or anytime you’re looking to understand the vital signs of survivors or combatants. It provides insights not just into a subject’s health condition but also potentially of their psychological state because of an elevated heart rate. That’s the type of intelligence that drones equipped with Vital Intelligence bring to the table.Draganfly will continue to move downstream to provide the analytics for the kind of data that we collect for our customers.

Dawn Zoldi: Your drones can be used in a lot of different markets. Let’s talk specifically about the public safety use case.

Cameron Chell: Draganfly was the company whose drone public safety used to save a human life. The Canadian Royal Mounted Police used two Draganfly Commander drones with a thermal sensor on it and found the missing person within 20 minutes, in a terrible snow storm. One of those drones now sits on permanent display in the Smithsonian. We’ve since sold over 10 000 drones to hundreds of Public Safety organizations. There’s an immediate return on investment for Public Safety organizations with drone programs. We bring significant value to Public Safety, whether through our Vital Intelligence sensors or emergency delivery drones.

Dawn Zoldi: You have an interesting partnership with Lufthansa which focuses on saving lives. Tell us about that.

Cameron Chell: Most people don’t know that Lufthansa industry Solutions is a major player in the marine industry, focused on cargo and passenger ships. They deploy numerous industrial software and safety solutions. The interesting statistic I have heard many times is that the average cruise ship will have one to three “person overboard” situations, whether caused by alcohol consumption, random accident or suicide attempt. As a result, there’s sensors all around the ships. We are working in three areas together. First, we will provide “person overboard” solutions for recovery, accident reconstruction, data collection and deployment of safety equipment. Second, we will also use our Vital Intelligence technology to monitor the health and condition of the population on board. Third, we will use drones for ship safety and maintenance inspections

Dawn Zoldi: What kind of use cases are all your different products and services supporting on the military side?

Cameron Chell: Any time you can support boots on the ground without having to use multi-multi-million dollar systems, it’s a win-win. Five years ago we worked with a well-known military contractor to use drones for blood delivery on the battlefield. We have designed counter drone technologies. Our drones provide just-in-time deliveries in active theaters. We assist military operations with everything from logistics, to surveillance to combat triage with our Vital Intelligence.

Dawn Zoldi: Tell us more about Draganfly’s involvement in counter-UAS technology.

Cameron Chell: We’ve done counter-UAS, drone-to-drone, for quite some time mostly for our military customers, using things like Kevlar Nets and airbag explosives to shoot drones down. and you know for uh you know almost a decade ago. We have since partnered with best-in-class companies in the areas of electronic jamming and warfare defense capabilities. It’s been a hot topic in the Ukraine theater.

Dawn Zoldi: Tell us about your demining efforts in Ukraine.

Cameron Chell: The Ukrainians use our drones for mine detection, search and rescue and emergency medical supply delivery, and other humanitarian purposes. It takes an inordinate amount of time to demine. Mines are complex and may not be made of metal. They could contain or be made of plastic, ceramic, wood or chemicals. All these different materials require different types of sensors. We have a full facility in Texas to test for all of these different types of materials. We focus on helping to find “cleared areas,” where people can pass through safely, where no mines are present. If you can determine a location has no mines there, that’s where you will save the most amount of time and lives.

Dawn Zoldi: What other humanitarian efforts is Draganfly assisting with in Ukraine?

Cameon Chell: Our drones have assisted Ukrainians with blood and medical delivery. We work with Revived Soldiers Ukraine, a U.S based NGO, that brings wounded Ukrainian soldiers to the United States for rehabilitation. At the outbreak of the conflict, they got deeply involved in providing humanitarian support to besieged areas. They had 30 ambulances, but most of them either couldn’t move or got confiscated. They heard about the work that we were doing in Texas with our specialized medical delivery drone, which has a temperature-managed box on it to carry things like pharmaceuticals, insulin, organs and blood, and contacted us. We immediately donated three drones and tested them in theater. They loved them and have since put in a significant order, which we discounted to the maximum extent possible.

We also recently announced our work with DSNS in other regions of Ukraine to provide situational awareness intel, infrastructure assessments, and aid in search and rescue operations throughout the country.

Dawn Zoldi: Besides Ukraine, you’ve recently been active in India too?

Cameon Chell: We’ve had significant global demand fueled by the work that we’ve done in the Ukraine. We recently signed a strategic partnership to have our drones type certified, assembled and manufactured in India. The India market is likely the largest drone market in the world for agriculture, delivery and defense. We ‘re absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to serve that market.

Dawn Zoldi: Cam, do you have any concluding comments?

Cameon Chell: Thanks to our customers for believing in us and letting us work through your really challenging issues and problems. Thanks to our shareholders for your belief and trust. Most importantly, thanks to our employees and the commitment that you show to our customers every day!

To learn more about Draganfly visit: https://draganfly.com/

Watch Cameron Chell on the Drone of Drones 2023 here.

Meet Cameron Chell in person at the Law-Tech Connect Workshop, where he will be speaking on a panel about privacy.