- Drone threat rapidly evolving into autonomous weaponized drones that hover for long periods to attack selected targets.
- Demonstration samples of new "Counter-Loitering Munitions" ("CLM") system from KWESST to be trialed in early 2022, with commercial roll-out planned for mid-2002.
- KWESST partners with U.S. drone company to produce demonstration units.
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 26, 2021) - KWESST Micro Systems Inc. (TSXV: KWE) (OTCQB: KWEMF) ("KWESST" or "the Company") today announced the development of a new system to counter the rapidly emerging threat of "Loitering Munitions."
Unlike conventional drone threats programmed or guided to fly straight to a target area for surveillance or to attack with improvised explosives, a Loitering Munition ("LM") is an autonomous, military grade "suicide" or "kamikaze" drone with a built-in warhead that can hover in an area for extended periods to search for targets, then attack selectively once a desired target is located.
"The threat of Loitering Munitions has been described as nothing less than a revolution in land warfare," said Jeff MacLeod, Founder, President and CEO of KWESST. The recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is a widely cited contemporary example of how Loitering Munitions can play a decisive role in outcomes, leaving ground forces exposed and vulnerable. More than a dozen countries currently have Loitering Munitions, and many more are in the process of adopting them as an economic replacement for missile systems, with surgical precision and highly destructive effects.
"Loitering Munitions constitute a new niche threat where KWESST is positioned to exploit its specialist counter-threat knowledge and technology," added MacLeod. The Company stated that it is already engaged with the lead military agencies in the U.S. and other NATO countries who are urgently seeking solutions to counter the threat of Loitering Munitions.
Details of KWESST's CLM solution are sensitive for security and competitive reasons. In concept, it receives a signal from any third-party drone detection system to locate the Loitering Munition then launches an unmanned platform with a proprietary payload into its pathway to neutralize it and prevent it from completing its mission. The nature of the neutralization method allows the system to also be safely used against domestic drone threats at sensitive facilities and public events without risk of collateral damage.
KWESST has partnered with a leading U.S. drone engineering company, to carry KWESST's neutralizing payload. Together, the two companies have successfully completed the feasibility phase and have begun work to produce functioning demonstration units by early 2022, with plans for trials with U.S. military agencies in the second calendar quarter of 2022.
The Company also announced that it has completed the previously announced 'shares for debt' transaction with one of its law firms to settle $18,000 of legal fees through the issuance of 10,000 common shares.