The Colombian air force has called in Droneshield (ASX:DRO) to protect its major defence airshow in July.

The small cap is providing the “counter drone protection” for the F-Air Colombia 2019 airshow, a regional industry event for aeronautics and defence manufacturers and buyers organised by Colombian Air Force Command and the country’s civil aviation agency.

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“Colombia is a key Latin American defence market, and the Colombian defence and law enforcement are key opinion leaders in the region,” said DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik.

Droneshield listed in 2016 and until the end of 2018 had announced 18 deals, partnerships and project-based protection service contracts, like the F-Air show, to the ASX, of which 11 were actual orders. It makes counter drone tech, from its “cannons” and “guns” for drone removal to detectors.

But the money only started rolling in after the drone scare at Gatwick airport in the UK in December last year.

While security services in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East had been buying small numbers of counter-drone tech and testing them, the Gatwick incident was a “watershed” moment for the industry, the company said in January.

Since then drones have caused chaos at airports in Dubai, Heathrow, Newark International Airport in New Jersey, Dublin, Frankfurt, and Malta.

Droneshield went from making $490,000 in the December quarter — then its highest ever cash receipt take — to just over $1m in the March period, almost entirely thanks to sales in the Middle East.

At the start of April, it had payments due in this quarter worth $2.6m. If these payments come in on time, it could mean Droneshield is cashflow positive for the first time on current spending rates.

“Tilling the new emerging field takes time, but once a company has established itself as a leader in a new space, and once customers start adopting its products and services, the potential for a take-off in growth is very substantial,” said chairman Peter James in a statement to the ASX earlier in April.
 

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