WARSAW, Poland — Doodle Labs is exploring manufacturing partnerships in the United States and Europe as demand grows for radio equipment used by unmanned systems operating in contested electromagnetic environments. The company, which currently operates a plant in Singapore, expects that increased deliveries connected to Ukraine could help support an expanded production footprint over the next two years.
The company specializes in long-range wireless mesh-networking systems for drones and robotics. Its discussions with prospective local partners come as unmanned-system production rises in Western countries and as customers seek communications equipment able to maintain links in environments where electronic jamming is a threat.
Radios for contested environments
In Ukraine, Doodle Labs works with local unmanned-system suppliers and the Ukrainian military to adapt its radio products to changing battlefield threats, according to Ira Hughes, the company’s senior director of sales. Hughes described a customer that fields both a lower-cost drone with inexpensive radio and camera equipment and another version equipped with Doodle Labs hardware for higher-value targets.
One of our customers makes two different types of drones. They make an inexpensive drone … with a cheap radio and camera system in it, and then they make a drone with our radio in it, and they use that for higher-value targets.
Ira Hughes, senior director of sales, Doodle Labs
The more capable radio-equipped aircraft are used first against vehicles and tanks fitted with jammers, Hughes said. He said the equipment enables users to change channels quickly when they encounter jamming, while a broad frequency range available through a single radio can allow operators to move away from a targeted channel and continue operating.
So if we can move from the channels that they’re trying to jam to an unjammed channel, we continue to operate, and we can continue to get to the target.
Ira Hughes, senior director of sales, Doodle Labs
Preparing for local production
Doodle Labs is now talking with manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic about launching local production, Hughes said. In the United States, the company is watching policy developments connected to the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual legislation used to enact defense-acquisition policies, as well as Made in America incentives.
We are working on the ability to do U.S. manufacturing when needed. We’ll manufacture with a third party … and as the NDAA requirements change in the United States and the Made in America incentives come, we’ll be prepared and able to manufacture in the United States.
Ira Hughes, senior director of sales, Doodle Labs
Hughes said allied countries will need to increase radio production alongside expanding drone output because existing supply chains are lagging demand for unmanned systems. Advanced radios are required for many systems to operate at their intended ranges and in difficult conditions, he said. Doodle Labs says it can produce tens of thousands of radios per month, or millions annually, if required.
