Sydney semiconductor startup Millibeam has unveiled Rakurai, a prototype counter-drone jammer light enough for a single soldier to carry, after securing $4.6 million in federal government grants, Startup Daily reported in August 2026.
Small drones have become one of the defining weapons of recent conflicts, and militaries are looking for ways to stop them that can be carried by individual soldiers rather than mounted on vehicles. Countering drones is a priority under Australia’s Project Land 156 and the 2026 National Defence Strategy, both of which emphasise sovereign capability, according to Startup Daily.
How it works
Rakurai disrupts the radio links that drones rely on. Most counter-drone systems are assembled from off-the-shelf components. Millibeam instead designed its chips and antennas together, which it says lets the device transmit across widely separated frequency bands at once, so a drone cannot simply switch to a clear channel.
“Every counter-drone system on the market today is built by bolting together off-the-shelf parts,” Main Sequence partner Mike Nicholls told Startup Daily.
The device sits at Technology Readiness Level 5, meaning it is still a prototype rather than a battlefield-ready product, and the company is preparing for field testing.
The founder
Millibeam was founded in 2021 by Dr Venkata Gutta, who is chief executive. Nicholls said Gutta had proven “across 15 tape-outs” that he could ship high-performance silicon and systems, a tape-out being the point at which a chip design is finalised for manufacturing.
“Designing from the chip up, here in Australia, is how we field sovereign capability,” Gutta told Startup Daily.
The backing
The $4.6 million in grants comprises $2.6 million from the Industry Growth Program and $2 million from the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative for next-generation semiconductor chipsets. Millibeam is also backed by Main Sequence, the venture firm founded by CSIRO, and Breakthrough Victoria.
Jack’s take
Drones have changed how wars are fought, and the answer to them is a hardware problem as much as a software one. For once, the chips in the answer might be designed here. The real test is field trials, because TRL 5 is still a long way from soldiers carrying it.