Defense tech startups advance autonomous and counter-drone systems

The landscape of modern warfare is shifting toward autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and unmanned platforms. In India, Zulu Defence Systems, a Bengaluru-based startup, is developing Advanced Air Defence Aerial Systems (AADAS). Their portfolio includes the Hoverbee nano reconnaissance drone for GPS-denied environments, the Recon90 tactical ISR drone, the Volume35 heavy-lift cargo drone, and the DRAP autonomous hovering munition system.

In the United States, defense contractor Mara has secured a seven-million-dollar pre-seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures to deploy its Spike counter-UAS platform. Designed to combat the rising threat of small first-person-view (FPV) drones, the Spike system utilizes a distributed mesh of inexpensive nodes. Unlike traditional single-target interceptors, the system employs a Spotter targeting mechanism providing 360-degree hemispherical coverage through visual, acoustic, and radar sensors.