Peter James

Peter James served as founding Chairman of DroneShield (ASX: DRO) from the company's early days. He departed on 8 April 2026 on the same day as founding CEO Oleg Vornik — a simultaneous exit that was highly unusual for a listed company and that the market read as a signal of internal disruption, sending the stock down 20%. No public explanation was provided for the timing.

As Chairman, James oversaw DroneShield's growth from a start-up into one of Australia's most prominent listed defence technology companies, guiding governance through multiple capital raises, an EU manufacturing expansion, and the emergence of DroneShield as a credible NATO-aligned Counter-UAS supplier. His successor, Hamish McLennan, is subject to shareholder confirmation at the 29 May 2026 AGM.

The double departure of James and Vornik removed both the governance and operational leadership simultaneously, creating a period of institutional uncertainty at a critical moment in the company's EU scale-up.