Oleg Vornik

Oleg Vornik was the founding Chief Executive Officer of DroneShield (ASX: DRO), the Australian Counter-UAS company that grew from a niche start-up into one of the world's leading electronic warfare and drone-defeat platform companies under his leadership. Vornik departed on 8 April 2026 simultaneously with founding Chairman Peter James, a joint exit that sent DroneShield shares down 20% on the day.

During Vornik's tenure DroneShield expanded from a single-product jammer business into a multi-platform portfolio spanning handheld devices, vehicle-mounted systems, fixed-site installations, and a nascent kinetic kill capability. FY2025 revenue reached AUD $216.5 million, up 276% year-on-year, with a European headquarters opened in Amsterdam and EU manufacturing capacity scaling toward AUD $2.4 billion annually by end-2026.

In May 2026, ASIC opened a formal investigation that places Vornik's November 2025 Conduct under scrutiny. The regulator is examining insider share sales between 6-12 November 2025 — a period during which Vornik and Chairman Peter James are estimated to have sold approximately A$67-70 million of DroneShield stock near its price peak — and the accuracy of market announcements made between 1-20 November 2025, including a US government contract package that was corrected the same day it was filed for double-counting revenue. The circumstances of Vornik's April 2026 departure, previously unexplained publicly, are now being reread by analysts in the context of the ASIC timeline. The probe extends to his share sales; he is no longer with the company and has not made public statements about the investigation.