Counter-UAS from Austria: GuardAero APS1 protects military vehicles at close range

All armed forces are turning their attention to counter-UAS – including the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer). GuardAero, an Austrian start-up running a research project together with the Ministry of Defence (BMLV), has made huge progress in this field: its GuardAero “APS1” system detects drones, fires at them and hits them. Further significant steps are next.

The starting point was the first Austrian Defence Innovation Conference (ADIC), held in January 2025 at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt. Around 300 participants from research, business and the military met there for the hackathon.

The winner was GuardAero, a defence tech start-up from Graz, with “APS1”, an autonomous, vehicle-independent active protection system against drones. Since then, time has simply flown by for CEO Lukas Kerschdorfer. The win led to a research project with the BMLV and the Austrian Armed Forces aimed specifically at an active protection system that shields military vehicles against drone attacks at close range. The team has since grown to a double-digit headcount, focusing on system development and on software and hardware development.

Live-fire tests in eastern Austria

A LinkedIn video posted only a few days ago shows how the system performs in a real test. The setting was a dusty dirt track in eastern Austria, where GuardAero APS1 has since successfully completed several live-fire tests.

Kerschdorfer puts it this way: “ADIC showed how defence innovation can work: the BMLV competition turned into a project with the Bundesheer for a new protective capability. With our team, we are building up the system expertise in Austria that is needed to protect military vehicles against drone attacks at close range.”

Private capital for development and integration

The project is financed with private capital in the low seven-figure range. The money is going mainly into vehicle integration, development and testing. At the same time, GuardAero is conducting research together with the Bundesheer and the BMLV, while working on integration with defence companies and vehicle manufacturers from Austria and abroad.

Kerschdorfer adds: “Capital alone does not create military capability. What matters is that funding, the military user and industry jointly turn technology into a capability. We have that structure today. Our active protection system is the Last Line of Defence: if a drone has broken through other protective layers, the vehicle needs a capability that defeats it. That is exactly what our system has been developed for.”

How the GuardAero APS1 counter-UAS system works

GuardAero APS1 is an active protection system designed to protect military vehicles against drone attacks at close range. The system covers the entire kill chain – from detection to neutralisation of the threat. At the end of the chain there is currently a shot-based kinetic effector. In this way, GuardAero APS1 complements existing protective layers.

With basic functional development complete, the focus is now shifting to vehicle integration. GuardAero aims to bring the system to market readiness by 2027 so that it can be installed widely across vehicle fleets. For this step and the next phase of growth and industrialisation, the company is preparing an additional funding round.

In conclusion, Kerschdorfer stresses: “Austria and Europe need their own technological answers to the threats of our time. Our contribution to this is developed and manufactured in Austria. The aim is to bring this capability onto vehicles together with industry, in order to protect those who protect us.”