The CEO of Estonian defense startup Frankenburg Technologies, Kusti Salm, has called on Europe to ramp up mass production of cheap weapons to be ready for modern warfare using drones.
The CEO of Estonian defense startup Frankenburg Technologies, Kusti Salm, has called on Europe to ramp up mass production of cheap weapons to be ready for modern warfare using drones.
This is also stated in the Financial Time article, which notes the experience of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is characterized as a mixture of «old-fashioned trench tactics from the times of the First and Second World Wars and a new kind of warfare using drones.» It states that Russia shows «unceremonious disregard» for the large number of victims, while Ukraine «demonstrated the power of drones, recently defiantly blowing up several Russian aircraft deep in enemy territory.»
There are currently several defense startups in Europe working on low-cost means to shoot down large numbers of drones. One of them is Estonian Frankenburg Technologies.
«The price-to-kill ratio is terrible. A modern short-range air defense kit can cost 500,000 euros versus a drone for 20,000 euros,» says Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies.
According to him, there is a big but simple problem with the defense industry in Europe and the US: the weapons currently being produced are extremely expensive and available in very small quantities.
«We need 10 to 100 times more and 10 times cheaper,» says Salm, adding that his company aims to keep the price of short-range missiles well below 50,000 euros.
The CEO of Frankenburg Technologies believes that the current defense industry «is about to be disrupted in every way» because big companies are offering a new product that is only a few percent better than the old one, but at a much higher price. «The bigger challenge is a product that is 10 percent worse but 50 percent cheaper, and that can be produced hundreds of times more,» says Salm.
Last fall, Frankenburg Technologies joined the list of European arms manufacturers opening production in Ukraine. In 2025, the company plans to test its small anti-aircraft missiles in Ukraine, which are designed to effectively shoot down Iranian-Russian drones.
Sneak peek: Frankenburg’s counter-drone missile launcher. More updates coming! #WinTech pic.twitter.com/gxhLhzkRt9
— Frankenburg Technologies (@FrankenburgTech) May 23, 2025
The Frankenburg Mark 1 anti-aircraft missile should effectively combat Shahed kamikaze drones. It can hit targets flying at an altitude of up to two kilometers. The company claims that the Frankenburg Mark 1 is inexpensive and optimized for mass production, designed specifically to neutralize drones and loitering munitions.
According to representatives of the company Frankenburg Technologies, the missiles are «conventional, fast, solid-fuel interceptor missiles, specifically designed to meet the needs of modern battlefields where there is a threat of the use of drones.»
