Alta Ares

Alta Ares was founded in 2024 near Paris, France, by Hadrien Canter, Stanislas Walch, Théo Bondarec and Alain Henry. The company started with onboard AI for real-time recognition of military targets from drone video and won the NATO Innovation Challenge in March 2025 for that system. It has since shifted its focus to air defence, positioning itself as a provider of AI-automated detection, identification and interception.

Two interceptor classes are under development: X-Lock, a short-range interceptor intended for Shahed-type one-way attack drones with a radius of around 15 kilometres, and Black Bird, a medium-range interceptor for faster targets such as cruise missiles and glide bombs. Both are controlled by the company's own software stack, which is also offered for ISR and surveillance use cases.

The company raised a seed round in 2025 and announced a 50 million euro financing round in June 2026. According to its own statements the systems are deployed in several active conflict zones, with operational feedback from Ukraine feeding back into development.