Drone Solutions Firm Wins $100K in Challenge with RF-Based C-UAS Technology

Zing Drone Solutions has secured the $100,000 grand prize at the Proven in Pendleton Counter-UAS Challenge, a national competition hosted by the Oregon UAS Accelerator.

The event brought together 30 leading-edge companies to showcase and validate breakthrough technologies designed to counter the growing threat of unauthorized drones penetrating secure airspace.

At the core of Zing’s winning entry is Z-SCAN, a passive RF-based drone detection and pilot geolocation system that demonstrated superior performance during live field evaluations. Judged by a panel of prominent national security and defense experts—Tom Perkowski, Keith Brendley, and Paul Allen—the system stood out for its accuracy, resilience, and real-world applicability.

Ian Annase, Founder and CEO of Zing Drone Solutions, said, “This award is a major validation of our technology and vision. Drones are entering secure perimeters unnoticed, and bad actors are exploiting the vulnerability. Security teams have strong defenses for ground threats like fences and cameras, but almost nothing protecting their airspace. Z-SCAN closes that gap.”

Z-SCAN addresses a critical vulnerability in current airspace security: the ability to reliably detect and track drones and their operators, even when traditional radar and visual systems fall short. Leveraging high-gain directional antennas and proprietary machine learning algorithms, the system passively monitors RF signatures to identify, classify, and geolocate drone activity in real time.

Unlike radar- or optics-dependent systems that can be hindered by weather or line-of-sight limitations, Z-SCAN operates effectively in challenging environmental conditions, offering uninterrupted situational awareness for security teams tasked with protecting sensitive infrastructure.

According to Zing, the company’s success at the Proven in Pendleton Challenge reinforces its potential as a pivotal player in the counter-UAS space, delivering scalable, AI-powered detection tools to safeguard airspace in an increasingly drone-populated world.