The Estonian defense industry company Frankenburg Technologies will start testing its small anti-aircraft missiles in Ukraine in the new year, which are designed to effectively shoot down Iranian-Russian drones.
The Estonian defense industry company Frankenburg Technologies will start testing its small anti-aircraft missiles in Ukraine in the new year, which are designed to effectively shoot down Iranian-Russian drones.
«This technology is promising, and we will start testing it in Ukraine in the new year,» Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies, told ERR. According to him, the deal is at the testing stage, and the company’s technology has received wide attention.
The Estonian company, which is considered one of the top four miltech startups in Europe, makes cheap missiles to shoot down drones that use artificial intelligence to hit the target. Frankenburg says it aims to revolutionize missile guidance systems with an artificial intelligence-based situational awareness program.
The startup has yet to raise venture capital, but Salm confirmed that the company has secured funding.
According to him, the need for new weapons will not disappear even if a ceasefire is concluded in Ukraine. «A new and much bigger war is expected in Europe,» says CEO Frankenburg.
The Frankenburg Mark 1 anti-aircraft missile should be more effective against Shahed kamikaze drones of Iranian origin. It can hit targets flying at an altitude of up to two kilometers.
«And in view of everything, Frankenburg Technologies made a number of absolutely correct conceptual decisions. Given the above description, for example, a camera and „machine vision“ with auto-detection and auto-targeting could be used as a homing head,» the military publication Defense Express notes. The material emphasizes that such a solution is «orders of magnitude cheaper than any other option» with a radar, infrared or even semi-active laser guidance system.
According to ERR, Frankenburg plans to start its production initially with a volume of a few dozen missiles per week, but in the third quarter it will already produce hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles every week.
The main owner of the company is Taavi Madiberk, who owns 70,32% of the shares. In addition, owners include MM Grupp, owned by Margus Linnamäe, who owns 25,97% of the company’s shares, and Marco Wirkebau with 3,7%.
Earlier it became known that two American technology companies IronNet and Asterion Systems have created an anti-UAV system, which is called a potential «game changer» in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
