Frankenburg Technologies and BAE Systems have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner in supply chain and capture collaboration opportunities, with an initial focus on addressing the growing challenges of drone warfare.

Both companies will explore opportunities to combine their expertise to accelerate the development of warheads for Frankenburg’s mass producible, low-cost missile systems for use in counter drone operations, as well as exploring other future technologies for development.

Scott Jamieson, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Maritime & Land Defence Solutions business, said:

“Collaborating with innovative companies like Frankenburg Technologies enables us to accelerate the development of advanced, affordable solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers.

By bringing together our proven munitions expertise with Frankenburg’s disruptive missile technology, we’re helping to deliver the next generation of counter drone capability at pace to stay ahead of emerging threats.”

Dan Hallett, Managing Director UK at Frankenburg Technologies, said:

“This partnership marks a powerful step forward for the UK defence ecosystem. By bringing together Frankenburg’s agility and rapid innovation with BAE Systems’ scale, industrial depth and global reach, together we’re creating the conditions for new technologies to move from concept to capability far faster.

I am proud that this MoU further highlights the UK as a place where SMEs and primes can collaborate to deliver the next generation of sovereign capability.”

Frankenburg Technologies is building a new generation of affordable, mass-manufacturable missile systems engineered for scale and sovereign production. This MoU reflects a shared ambition to strengthen the UK’s defence industrial base by combining established UK munitions capability with emerging missile technologies to accelerate scalable, cost-effective and sovereign solutions.

This collaboration is part of BAE Systems’ wider work harnessing its established industrial scale and defence expertise to support disruptive small and medium-sized enterprises in driving technological advancement and performance at pace.

About BAE Systems

We provide some of the world’s most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions, helping customers stay ahead of evolving threats across land, sea, air, cyber and space. We are a skilled workforce of around 110,000 people, working with customers and local partners in more than 40 countries to deliver military capability, protect national security and keep critical information and infrastructure secure.

About Frankenburg Technologies

Frankenburg Technologies is a European defence technology company building affordable, mass-manufacturable missile systems. The company operates across the United Kingdom and seven other European countries, with a third of its engineering team based in the UK.

Its flagship missile system, Mark I, is a compact precision-guided interceptor developed to counter low-flying unmanned aerial systems. Built from commercially available components and delivered from concept to live fire in just 13 months, Mark I reduces short-range intercept cost by more than 10–20×.

Frankenburg combines modular missile design with relocatable, industrialised production methods to enable sovereign supply chains and scalable local production in partner nations.

• Frankenburg is building affordable missile systems designed for mass production and rapid regeneration, addressing Europe’s acute air-defence bottleneck: producing interceptors at speed and scale
• The company now operates across eight European countries, with local entities and teams
• Focused on restoring sustainable economics to air defence through scale, speed and sovereign manufacturing
• Funding will be used to stand up multi-site missile production and grow missile building footprint in the UK and Germany

Frankenburg Technologies, a leading European missile defence startup focused on affordable, mass-manufacturable missile systems and sovereign production capacity, has raised €30 million in Series A funding, led by Plural and followed by SmartCap.

Founded in 2024 by serial deep-tech entrepreneurs Taavi Madiberk (Chairman) and Marko Virkebau (Board Member), Frankenburg Technologies was created to respond to a structural shift in Europe’s security environment: modern aerial threats can now be produced cheaply and at scale, while missile manufacturing has historically prioritised performance over speed, cost and regeneration.

Led by CEO Kusti Salm, former Permanent Secretary of Estonia’s Ministry of Defence, Frankenburg brings together senior defence leaders and missile engineers with experience across leading European and allied missile programmes, including IRIS-T, SPEAR3, Storm Shadow and Brimstone. The company is being built as a new European missile house with sovereign production infrastructure, delivering low-cost, precision-guided systems across air, surface and maritime domains at scale.

Rebuilding the economics of air defence

Large-scale aerial threats, from low-cost unmanned systems to more complex cruise-missile-like targets, have become a persistent feature of Europe’s security landscape. While such threats can be produced quickly and in large numbers, interceptors are often expensive, slow to manufacture and available only in limited quantities.

Frankenburg was founded to change this equation. Its missile systems are designed from the outset for affordability, mass manufacturability and integration, enabling armed forces to field interceptors that are an order of magnitude cheaper to use than traditional approaches, while remaining compatible with existing sensors, command-and-control systems and layered air-defence architectures.

In just 13 months, the company has taken its first interceptor, the Mark I short-range air-defence missile, from concept to advanced testing and industrialisation. Mark I was intentionally designed with constrained requirements to enable speed, scale and affordability, and to be produced using Frankenburg’s containerised, modular manufacturing concept, allowing missile production to be localised close to the point of need.

Putting real industrial capacity behind missile production

The new funding will be used to build tangible, sovereign missile-manufacturing capacity in Europe, with a clear focus on production, resilience and regeneration.

Key priorities include:

• Standing up two EU-based mass-production sites, designed for full-rate output and rapid scaling, with production capacity from 100 missiles per day per site
• Securing long-lead components and early production stock, ensuring schedule certainty and resilience in crisis scenarios
• Establishing dedicated rocket motor and warhead production capabilities within the EU, providing vertical control over critical energetics
• Expanding Frankenburg Missile hubs in the UK and Germany, supporting next-generation missile development, prototyping and cross-site integration
• Growing engineering, safety, quality and export-control teams, ensuring systems are production-ready and deployable for European and allied customers

Together, these investments are intended to enable distributed, multi-site missile production at scale, capable of sustaining high daily output across multiple locations, while strengthening the existing European defence-industrial base.

Manufacturing where Europe needs it

Frankenburg now operates across eight countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland and Ukraine, with teams focused on engineering, industrialisation and a growing network of industrial collaborations across land, air and maritime domains with European and allied partners.

The company’s model is built around manufacturing where systems are used: keeping supply chains short, creating skilled industrial jobs, and ensuring that defence spending strengthens national economies rather than exporting dependence.

By combining modular manufacturing, commercially available components and rapid qualification cycles, Frankenburg aims to give European nations a credible path to sustained air-defence readiness, even under prolonged stress or wartime conditions.

Building the foundations of Europe’s missile arsenal

The €30 million Series A brings Frankenburg’s total funding to €40 million and will support the company’s expansion from its first operational systems to a broader, full-spectrum missile portfolio. While Mark I addresses the most immediate air-defence needs, future programmes will expand beyond counter-UAS and short-range air defence into additional air- and surface-launched precision capabilities, built using the same industrialised, scalable manufacturing model.

Taavi Madiberk, Founder and Chairman of Frankenburg Technologies:

“For too long, Europe outsourced strength. That must end. I founded Frankenburg because Europe needs a SpaceX-style shift in defence missiles: build fast, move faster, and win on cost and performance. We are sharply focused on counter-drone missiles today, but this is only the first step. Long-term, we are building a global missile leader, delivering lower costs and aiming for higher performance than US or Chinese incumbents across all key missile categories.”

Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies:

“Europe’s deterrence problem is not just about budgets, it’s about availability. You cannot deter with systems that are too scarce, too slow to replace, or too expensive to use at scale. Frankenburg was built to restore speed, scale and sustainability to missile defence. This funding allows us to put real industrial capacity behind that mission and build missile systems Europe can actually afford to fire and produce at scale.”

Sten Tamkivi, Partner at Plural:

“In a world where an adversary can deploy tens of thousands of autonomous attack drones, staying safe is not rocket science: defence must be cheap, fast and count in millions of units available. Frankenburg is tackling one of Europe’s most urgent defence challenges by building credible deterrence with missiles, at startup speed. The team combines deep defence expertise with a fundamentally different manufacturing mindset, and we believe this approach can have a lasting impact on Europe’s security and industrial resilience.”

About Frankenburg Technologies

Frankenburg Technologies is a European defence technology company building affordable, mass-manufacturable missile systems. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Tallinn, the company operates across eight European countries and focuses on restoring sustainable economics, speed and sovereignty to modern missile defence.

Frankenburg’s mission is to equip the free world with the technologies needed to win the war.

About Plural

Plural is an early-stage investment fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology. Plural launched in June 2022 with the aim to give serious founders in Europe investors with experience to match their ambition. Based in Tallinn, Estonia, and London, UK, Plural’s mission is to have GDP-level impact on Europe, address systemic risks and reduce the opportunity gap worldwide through the companies it backs.

Babcock International Group (Babcock) and Frankenburg Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a new and affordable air defence system in response to the increase of one-way attack drones.

As part of the MoU, Babcock, a world leader in designing and manufacturing maritime launch systems, will develop a cost-effective, containerised platform for launching Frankenburg’s new low-cost missiles, which it is manufacturing at pace, specifically to defend against one-way attack drones.

This joint capability will provide more affordable, scalable and kinetic solutions which are needed to be developed to protect military personnel and critical national infrastructure sites which could be exposed to attack across Europe.

With Frankenburg’s engineering function led from the UK, the relationship will provide both organisations with the opportunity to develop a new sovereign capability, creating skilled employment in the UK and providing Babcock and Frankenburg with global export opportunities.

David Lockwood, CEO of Babcock, said: “Defence has entered a new era with the rapid development of drone warfare and industry needs to respond to this growing threat. We work with the brightest start-ups on defence’s most critical challenges, and we’re pleased to be working with Frankenburg Technologies on the development of an innovative maritime counter-drone air defence system.”

Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies, added: “Frankenburg Technologies’ mission is clear: to bring affordability and scale to modern air defence. The drone threat has changed the character of warfare, and every layer of defence now needs to be designed for mass and speed from the outset. Partnering with Babcock, a recognised leader in maritime defence, allows us to combine rapid innovation with proven naval and industrial expertise, accelerating the delivery of an operational maritime capability.”

About Babcock

Babcock is a FTSE 100 international defence company, operating in the UK, Australasia, Canada, France, and South Africa with exports to additional markets. We deliver complex support and product solutions to enhance our customers’ defence capabilities and critical assets. We are driven by our purpose: to create a safe and secure world, together.

About Frankenburg Technologies

Frankenburg Technologies is a defence technology company, operating in the United Kingdom, Tallinn, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. A third of the engineering function is based in the UK. Company is developing next-generation interceptor missiles for short-range air defence and counter-UAS. Systems are designed to protect armed forces and critical national infrastructure from large-scale aerial threats. Designed to be fast, lightweight, and mass-manufacturable, Frankenburg’s missile systems drastically lower intercept cost and complement existing layered air defence architectures.

Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. (PGZ) and Frankenburg Technologies OÜ (Frankenburg) have signed an agreement to collaborate on the integration and joint marketing of advanced Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) and air defence solutions. The partnership aims to meet the growing regional demand for scalable, interoperable, and combat-proven effectors and systems.

Driven by the urgent need to ensure operational superiority and resilience across NATO’s Eastern Flank, this cooperation underscores the shared commitment of both companies to enabling Western and allied forces to effectively counter and neutralize the evolving threat of Russian drone warfare – particularly in support of the „drone wall“ initiative led by regional partners.

“Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa is developing its air defence capabilities, responding to dynamically evolving threats. Collaborating with Frankenburg Technologies has a dual significance for us – not only will we gain new competencies and a valuable partner, but we will also enhance our cooperation with Estonia. Due to our shared location, we are jointly strengthening NATO’s eastern flank.” – Arkadiusz Bąk, First Vicepresident of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A

“We fully share Poland’s approach – prioritising local projects that strengthen our industry while remaining open to European cooperation and joint defence initiatives. The ‘drone wall’ integration has to start now if we want to be ready on time.” – Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies

Under the agreement, PGZ and Frankenburg will focus on integrating Frankenburg’s missile systems with PGZ platforms, engaging in joint R&D initiatives and knowledge exchange. The collaboration also envisions future operational integration of Frankenburg’s technologies within PGZ’s air defence systems.

As part of the planning phase, both parties have agreed to establish localised missile manufacturing capacity of up to 10,000 units annually, ensuring sustainable production and rapid replenishment capabilities.

This milestone marks a significant step forward in regional industrial cooperation, enhancing local production capacity, securing the defence supply chain, and advancing innovation through R&D-driven solutions. The partnership exemplifies how regional defence industry collaboration can reinforce collective security, resilience, and technological sovereignty.

About PGZ

PGZ is a capital group concentrating several dozen production plants, service facilities and research centres crucial for the Polish defence industry. PGZ manufactures innovative systems and solutions used by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland and allied formations.

About Frankenburg

Frankenburg is the world’s first provider of affordable, mass-manufacturable air defence and counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) missiles, enabling a cost-effective response to the rapidly growing UAV threat.

Agreement brings Frankenburg’s affordable missile system into NiDAR C4, expanding layered defence options for global customers.

MARSS and Frankenburg Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at DSEI UK 2025. The partnership will see MARSS integrate Frankenburg’s next-generation missile system into its NiDAR Command and Control (C4) platform – creating a layered defence solution that combines affordability, scalability, and cutting-edge AI to protect against emerging aerial threats.

A new chapter in cost-effective defence

Air defence today is not just a contest of capabilities, but one of economics. Adversaries are flooding the field with more affordable, expendable drones and mass-produced loitering munitions to overwhelm defences – while effectors in theatre often cost hundreds of thousands of pounds per shot. In this equation, the aggressor holds the advantage, leaving defenders to shoulder unsustainable costs.

Frankenburg Technologies, now partnered with MARSS, is seeking to reset that balance. Headquartered in Estonia, Frankenburg is developing a new generation of interceptor missiles designed from the ground up to defeat class 1–3 drones – fast, lightweight, solid rocket-fuelled, and engineered for mass production to reduce intercept costs by more than 10×. Compact and efficient, each missile is delivered in a simple “click-on, click-off” launcher canister, enabling rapid reloads without specialist handling. Frankenburg’s missiles offer a credible, scalable option for more affordable air defence.

By integrating this specific missile tech into its NiDAR C4 platform, MARSS is now able to offer its customers an additional countermeasure that fills a major industry gap. Aided by NiDAR’s autonomous threat countermeasure recommendations, operators can match the right response to the right threat – from RF jammers and Remote Weapon Systems, to autonomous interceptors and now, affordable missiles – all orchestrated seamlessly through NiDAR’s single pane of glass.

Strengthening NiDAR’s layered approach

NiDAR already delivers multi-domain protection across air, land, surface and sub-surface environments. Sensor and effector agnostic, it fuses information from a huge range of sources into one intuitive system. It is in operation at over 50 sites worldwide, including critical infrastructure, ports, and naval platforms.

The addition of Frankenburg’s affordable missile system will expand the choice of options available to MARSS’ customers – particularly those in the Middle East already utilising NiDAR to deliver layered defence architectures.

Josh Harman, Senior Vice President, Business Development at MARSS, said, “The signing of this MoU is a major step forward in redefining the economics of air defence for our customers. Frankenburg’s technology is one of the first affordable, mass-manufacturable effectors designed specifically for today’s air defense threats, including UAS. By integrating it into NiDAR, we are giving our customers the ability to protect lives and infrastructure at a sustainable cost, while still maintaining access to the full suite of effectors – including soft and hard kill options.”

“This partnership is about delivering choice, scalability and smarter defence.”

“Partnering with MARSS brings our interceptor missiles into a proven C4 environment, where detection, classification and engagement come together,” said Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies. “Our missiles are designed from the ground up to defeat drones – fast to launch, easy to handle, and built for mass production so that defending against drones can finally be affordable at scale. Together with MARSS, we are expanding layered air defence to meet the growing drone threat for allied nations.”

Driving innovation into new markets

While Frankenburg has focused primarily on NATO and European markets, the MoU opens new opportunities in the Gulf and other regions where MARSS already has established customers and installations. The companies will work together to present an integrated, cost-effective solution to both military and civil customers seeking protection from ongoing drone and loitering munition threats.

About MARSS

MARSS is a global defence technology leader specializing in CUAS and AI-powered security and surveillance systems through NiDAR. With extensive experience spanning 20 years, including research collaboration with the EU, NATO, defence agencies, academia and industry, and installations covering the globe, MARSS is a pioneer in AI-enhanced C2 and C4i solutions.

Leveraging innovation and technology to provide the highest level of security against emerging threats, MARSS’ intuitive solutions employ integrated sensor surveillance, machine learning and open-source intelligence to protect nations, critical infrastructure, naval assets, special forces, heads of state, commercial shipping and millions of lives worldwide.

About Frankenburg Technologies

Frankenburg Technologies is a European defence technology company developing next-generation interceptor missiles for counter-UAS and short-range air defence. Designed to be fast, lightweight, and mass-manufacturable, Frankenburg missiles aim to lower intercept cost and integrate seamlessly into layered defence alongside existing C2/C4 systems. Frankenburg works with European and NATO allied partners to strengthen affordable air defence for the free world.

Advanced Protection Systems S.A. (APS) and Frankenburg Technologies have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at the joint development and integration of cutting-edge counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) in response to the growing drone threat in Europe and globally.

APS is a leading Polish manufacturer of the SKYctrl anti-drone systems and FIELDctrl 3D MIMO radars, which are being deployed both in Poland and across many international markets, including Lithuania, where they will protect critical energy infrastructure, Ukraine, where significant numbers of Gdynia-made systems are used on the battlefield, and countries in the Middle East. Importantly, Advanced Protection Systems’ products are already fully integrated today with combat-proven kinetic effectors from reputable partners. 

Frankenburg Technologies, an Estonia-headquartered manufacturer of next-generation C-UAS effectors, is a pioneer in affordable, mass-producible interceptor missiles designed to neutralize drones. Frankenburg’s solutions offer an effective and scalable response to the rapidly increasing threat posed by unmanned aerial systems, particularly in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The collaboration between the two companies will include:

• Integration of Frankenburg’s missile systems with APS’s radar and counter-drone platforms,
• Planning, preparation, and execution of joint C-UAS system tests,
• Exchange of technical knowledge,
• Joint implementation of projects funded by national and international sources,
• Joint participation in public demonstrations, conferences, and industry events,
• Joint offering of integrated C-UAS solutions across NATO and allied markets.
  

“Modern threats from new-generation unmanned aerial systems, as well as their mass deployment in military conflicts, require C-UAS manufacturers to develop an increasing number of kinetic effectors whose cost does not significantly exceed that of the attacking systems. For this reason, we intend to integrate into our systems a cost-effective kinetic effector that Frankenburg is now introducing to the market.” — Tomasz Kusowski, Chief Business Officer, APS

“Partnering with APS, whose radars and SKYctrl systems are already proven in combat, enables us to further demonstrate Frankenburg’s interceptor missiles as part of complete, layered counter-drone solutions for NATO allies. Our missiles are designed from the ground up to defeat drones — fast, lightweight, solid rocket-fuelled, and engineered for mass production to keep intercept costs low. Together, we are taking a step toward building a European shield against drone threats, rooted in close cooperation between innovative NATO defence companies.” — Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies

This agreement marks another step toward building a European integrated air defense system against drone threats — founded on close cooperation between the defense industry and innovative technologies from NATO member states.