Reconnaissance drones in bird disguise: Ornadyne O1 fools sensors at US Air Force exercise

US company Ornadyne drew attention at a US Air Force exercise with its flapping-wing drone O1. The novel aircraft, from the class of small reconnaissance drones, looks like a crow, moves like a bird in flight and is apparently not detected by counter-drone systems.

The O1 demonstrated its capabilities in September during the “Game of Drones” exercise series. Instead of propellers, the unmanned aircraft relies on moving wings. They replicate the natural wingbeat of a bird and thus set the O1 apart from conventional drones.

According to the manufacturer, the sensors of other companies deployed at the exercise failed to identify the O1 as a drone. Instead, they classified the ornithopter as a bird.

Ornadyne co-founder Armen Arakelyan explains: “It looks like a bird, moves similarly to a bird and can therefore be mistaken for a bird by both humans and counter-drone systems.” Because no propellers are fitted, the system is also considerably quieter, he said.

Reconnaissance drones with a bird silhouette

According to the manufacturer, the O1 weighs around 450 grams. It flies up to ten kilometres and stays airborne for more than an hour. Payloads that can be integrated include small cameras for reconnaissance and target recognition.

What stands out above all is how far the system can be adapted: to imitate various native bird species, its colour, wingspan, proportions and silhouette can be changed. Ornadyne therefore relies less on the classic reduction of technical signatures and more on camouflage through the most natural possible appearance and flight behaviour.

The idea is not entirely new. As early as 2024, footage of an exercise by Chinese special forces showed a small drone imitating a sparrow with flapping wings. For counter-drone defence, however, the successful test of the O1 clearly highlights an additional challenge: in future, small military reconnaissance drones could become ever harder to distinguish reliably from ordinary birds.

According to CEO Geourg Kivijian, Ornadyne is the only manufacturer in the USA that designs and builds mechanical “birds” for reconnaissance and camouflage. He described his strategy to the trade portal SOFX as follows: the drone should disappear into the background noise of detection systems. During testing at “Game of Drones” in September, sensors from other vendors did not pick up the drone. “It was registered as a bird, and that was exactly our goal,” Kivijian said.

Test site in the Mojave Desert

“Game of Drones” ran from 15 to 18 September at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert. The host was the Experimental Test Force of the US Air Force’s 412th Test Wing, which provided the Edwards North Base area. The DCMA’s Blue List team developed and sponsored the event together with the Griffiss Institute. This institute is a non-profit organisation that acts as an intermediary between federal laboratories and American industry.

Once a quarter, the format brings manufacturers and soldiers together in an experimental test environment to compare various drone capabilities in realistic scenarios. The results feed into the Blue List, the catalogue of commercial drones for US military procurement. The documented contributions included Ornadyne’s flight demonstrations on 16 and 17 September, during which the O1 imitated a crow in shape and profile.