Counter-drone defence made in and for Austria: Guardaero

Mr Kerschdorfer, how did Guardaero come about?
The idea came up in 2022 with the start of the war in Ukraine. We saw how massively drones were being used for reconnaissance and attacks on military targets. Since I myself served with the mountain infantry (Gebirgsjäger) of the Bundesheer and have always been interested in military topics, I wanted to make a contribution.

Together with a fellow student in Graz, I began investigating the problem scientifically as part of my master's thesis in mechanical engineering: how do you protect vehicles against extremely cheap small drones? From this, the project and eventually Guardaero gradually emerged.

How does the system work?
At close range there is currently extremely little protection for vehicles and soldiers. Our goal is to develop a protection system that defeats drone attacks immediately before impact. In doing so, we cover the entire “kill chain”, from detection to defeat. This is essential, because at close range everything has to happen in fractions of a second, especially with suddenly appearing threats.

We deliberately rely on a hard-kill method. Many modern drones fly autonomously and can no longer be disrupted by jamming. Kinetic defence is therefore necessary. For detection, we currently use passive methods such as acoustic and optical sensors. This has the advantage that the system emits no signals that could reveal its position, and it also remains cost-efficient.

How are the drones engaged?
We currently use a shot-based system as the effector. In our tests with the Bundesheer, it delivered the best results at close range. Our system acts as the “last line of defence”. We currently detect at distances of up to 80 metres and defeat the drones from a distance of around 50 metres.

Which vehicle types is the system designed for?
The system is modular and designed so that it can be retrofitted to any military vehicle: from tanks to pickups. Installation is simple and quick. In operation, it works automatically at the push of a button.

Guardaero works closely with the Austrian Armed Forces. What does this cooperation look like?
The cooperation is excellent. We were able to present our concept for the first time at the Austrian Defence Innovation Konferenz. We are now actively testing the system on the Bundesheer's training areas. The feedback from the troops is very valuable for us, as it allows requirements from practice to flow directly into development. Only recently, we successfully engaged several attacking drones in tests.

Apart from the Austrian Armed Forces, are there already other interested parties?
Of course, it is not only Austria that is interested in our system. We are still a very young company and are currently developing for the Bundesheer. The more we grow, the more we will also expand our presence across Europe.

You recently closed a funding round. What does the further timeline look like?
Developing complex military technology is very capital-intensive. With the fresh capital, we want to complete the full kill chain. Our goal is to reach market readiness for broad integration by 2027. Of course, the corresponding military acceptance procedures will follow after that, but we are continuing at full throttle.