The war in Ukraine brought drones ahead of modern warfare, creating a demand surge for counter-drone systems.
However, legacy solutions to counter drones, such as land -based defense systems and cyber warfare, often have a heavy price tag. For the onset of German Alpine EagleThese solutions are falling apart: when now-UBIQuitous $ 500 First-Person (FPV) drones (FPV) have the capacity to destroy multi-million dollars tanks, answers are required effectively.
“We use cheap, masses that can develop systems to promote a symmetry against the advantage of cheap strike drones,” Dutch businessman Jan-Hendrik Boelens told Techcrunch. The Munich-based Alpine Eagle, which he cured in 2023, will form a sentinel, a mix of software and hardware dedicated to cost efficiency.
Unlike Ground -based Compete solutions, such as The hover's counter-drone turretSentinel is in air, with modular sensors that are not prevented by land and other obstacles, while avoiding being a stationary target.
Its motherhood, which is sophisticated, but does not mean expensive, carries Kamikaze interceptors that will also help to do so more than eliminating threats or jamming: they can capture objects with nets or destroy hostile drones altogether.
While potential applications exist in law enforcement and other sectors, the current geopolitical climate has pushed demand for this technology especially in the military. Munich-based startup secured the German Army as its customer launch, in addition to other government agencies, and said it achieved seven-digit income during the first 12 months of operation.
This helped close a € 10.25 million series of a twist (around $ 10.96 million) led by the British Deep Tech VC firm IQ Capital. The new fund will help start to expand the current team of aeronautical machine and engineers, with new hires throughout the product, engineering, business development, and sales that bring headcount to 40.
The fact that the cycle is led by a British VC firm is not by chance, as the start will have the UK as a major market in its expansion. That's also because its market is beyond the battlefields, along with Recent events also featuring the need to protect military bases and greater infrastructure.
However, there is no doubt that the Alpine Eagle is part of the increase of European Defense Tech, and of VC interest in the sectorEspecially in countries that have been felt in the threat.
In addition to the return of investors to the general catalyst and HCVC, its cap also includes funds from Estonia, Germany, and Poland. “We are looking for a consortium of European investors sharing the same urgent formation [a] European Defense Tech Ecosystem is found in major countries, ”Boelens said.
Despite the feeling of this urgent, Boelens did not want Sentinel to rush into Ukraine. “Our approach there is to make sure we have a mature system to deliver to them so that we don't waste their time with something that doesn't work. We have seen a lot of startups doing that, and we feel that we should only go there once the system is doing what to do.
After its system was proven in the German army, it was already trying its system in Ukraine and talking to various brigades that helped identify cases of use in the front line. One is Fiber optic drone;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Using cables instead of radio frequency makes it harder to see or jam.
Immune drones in RF interference can be a challenge even for epirus, the US Defense Tech Startup established by Joe Lonsdale just raised A $ 250 million series DAnd where the flagship product Leonidas beams high-powered microwaves.
In contrast, the Alpine Eagle plane system can combine various sensors including radar panels to detect low-flying drones that often avoid ground-based systems.
Jamming goes the same way, though. That is one of the aspects in which the Alpine Eagle uses AI, with data processing that has finished the hardware itself for navigation purposes, as well as collecting data to prevent its algorithms from “have more tactics that fit based on what they really realize in reality.”
A basic tactical aspect of the sentinel firing, which is also a point of sale of Latest drone models From the German Defense Tech Company Helsing. Applying it to counter drone techniques follows the same logic of limiting costs and casualties, with a modern warfare that is increasingly not administered.
“We realized that all the powers in the West had trouble not having enough soldiers, so we tried to build a system where many, many drones could be operated by a single operator by using high automation levels and actually promoting the soldier in a mission manager rather than a pilot,” Boelens said.
