OpenWorks Engineering

OpenWorks Engineering Ltd was founded in 2015 by five engineers with backgrounds in supplying equipment to defence customers and is based in Prudhoe in North East England. It works in counter-UAS, air defence and surveillance, states its vision as helping to protect the territory and airspace of NATO countries and their allies, and has opened a US regional office in Ashburn, Virginia. Co-founder Chris Down is chief executive.

The company became known for SkyWall, a family of physical drone-capture devices that fire a net at a drone; according to the company, SkyWall net capture systems have been deployed by militaries worldwide since 2016. The line has included the handheld SkyWall Patrol and the autonomous SkyWall Auto; SkyWall Patrol is the net-capture product currently offered. Its second product line consists of autonomous vision systems: VISION FLEX modular camera systems, the stabilised VISION PACE targeting and tracking system and the deployable VISION GUARD surveillance system. They combine dynamic positioners, EO and IR cameras with embedded AI modules and radar sensor fusion to detect, identify and track fast-moving targets and to work with radar, command-and-control systems and third-party effectors.

The optics are designed to be integrated into larger air defence systems: VISION FLEX has been integrated into BAE Systems' BATS capability. In October 2026 OpenWorks received an order to supply VISION PACE to the US Department of Homeland Security under Amentum's DoD IAC multiple award contract; according to the company, VISION PACE has been deployed on three continents since its introduction in 2025.