Airbus Defence and Space and Alta Ares, a French defence technology company specialised in counter-drone systems and on-board artificial intelligence, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on the development and integration of European counter-drone solutions.
The partnership will combine Airbus’ system and software integration expertise with Alta Ares’ AI-powered tactical air defence, said Airbus in a press release. Alta Ares’ counter-drone systems have been operationally deployed in Ukraine since 2024.
“Modern air defence is neither a software issue nor a hardware issue. It’s both, at the same time – and at scale”, said Hadrien Canter, Co-Founder and CEO of Alta Ares. “Integrating Pixel Lock and our interceptors into Fortion IBMS means operators get a single, coherent sensor to shooter chain from detection to neutralisation. That’s what theatre commanders are actually asking for.”
As an integrator, Airbus Defence and Space will leverage Fortion IBMS (Integrated Battle Management Software), its Command & Control (C2) solution, and Fortion SAMOC suite, its surface-to-air missile operation centre solution designed to counter threats from various effectors and missiles.
Alta Ares –alongside Airbus – will continue the development and deployment of the Black Bird, a medium-range (30 km) interceptor engineered for high-speed targets like cruise missiles, and the X-Lock, a short-range (15 km) system designed to counter drone threats.
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(Image: Airbus)