Their technologies will be tested in controlled but operationally realistic scenarios in the autumn
The European Defence Agency (EDA) on Wednesday named five finalists in its Sentinel Strike Challenge, a competition aimed at testing emerging loitering munition technologies under realistic military conditions.
More than 140 organisations from across Europe expressed interest in the challenge. Following an initial evaluation, five companies – Helsing (Germany), Destinus (Netherlands), C-Astral (Slovenia), UAVision (Portugal) and Spirit Aeronautical Systems (Greece) – have advanced to the second stage and will each receive a €30,000 prize.
The remaining companies in the top ten, Renegade UxS (Denmark), Robotto (Denmark), Cerberon Defence Systems (Germany), THALES LAS (France) and ALTUS LSA (Greece), will each receive a €10,000 Stage 1 prize.
The finalists will take part in field trials during the EU OPEX26 operational experimentation campaign at Portugal’s Santa Margarida military training area this autumn. Their loitering munition systems, a type of attack drone designed to search for targets before striking, will be tested in controlled but operationally realistic scenarios.
