French defence technology startup Harmattan AI, has been awarded a multi-million-US dollar contract by an undisclosed NATO government for the delivery of AI-enabled small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). The systems will be delivered in mid-October.
The company, founded in April 2024, already has operations across Europe, the Middle East and the United States. While the contract announcement does not mention which Harmattan UAS is to be delivered, the company has developed, among other systems, a high-speed UAS designed for rapid interception of hostile group 1-2-3 drones. GOBI is designed to neutralise a target in approximately one minute from launch by colliding with it. Its AI models handle target recognition and tracking without external input although there is a human ‘in the loop’.
Launched automatically, following a command from a surveillance system, GOBI scans the airspace for threats and navigates to its calculated interception point. As GOBI approaches the target, it enters a guidance mode and uses onboard IR and radar systems to execute an intercept. “Computer vision identifies the optimal impact point and autonomously applies final trajectory adjustments,” Harmattan says.
Given its attack method, GOBI is not designed as a reusable counter-UAS system.
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