Counter-UAS for Europe: Alpine Eagle and Origin Robotics integrate Blaze into Sentinel

Strengthening European capabilities in counter-unmanned aircraft systems (counter-UAS) – that is the aim of a partnership that two companies made public at the Eurosatory 2026 defence trade fair in Paris: German defence start-up Alpine Eagle and Latvian firm Origin Robotics. Specifically, Blaze, Origin Robotics' autonomous interceptor system, is to be integrated into Sentinel, Alpine Eagle's counter-UAS architecture.

The goal is a multi-layered sensor-to-effector solution in which a common system combines reconnaissance, decision-making and countermeasures. In the longer term, the two partners also intend to manufacture Blaze locally in Germany.

Blaze as an additional counter-UAS layer

In the Sentinel architecture, Alpine Eagle combines airborne and ground-based radar systems with networked sensors and with the Sentinel-OS software platform. This brings sensors, platforms and effectors together in a common network. Blaze now adds a further interception component to the system. The radar-supported system was developed specifically to defeat drones and loitering munitions.

The move should be seen against the background of European states investing increasingly in counter-UAS. The war in Ukraine and the recent conflicts in the Middle East have made clear how important early target acquisition, layered defence concepts and cost-efficient interception solutions have become.

Drone warfare is forcing armed forces to rethink the protection of their airspace. The challenge is to bring detection, tracking and defeat together in an integrated system that can react quickly and grow with the threat— Jan-Hendrik Boelens, co-founder and CEO of Alpine Eagle

For Boelens, this much is clear: "The integration of Blaze adds a further effective layer of defence to our sensor-to-effector architecture."

Agris Kipurs, co-founder and CEO of Origin Robotics, likewise sees the networking of different capabilities as a success factor: "The future of counter-drone defence depends on combining the right sensors, software solutions and effectors. No single system can solve this challenge on its own."

As first steps, the partners name technical integration, customer demonstrations and validation of the operational performance of their joint solution. The cooperation is thus in line with a current industry trend: European defence companies are combining specialised technologies into integrated overall systems that can be adapted and scaled more quickly than conventional defence programmes.