Alpine Eagle secures funding from European backers for counter-drone tech amid rising threats

The war in Ukraine has brought drones to the forefront of modern warfare, creating a surge in demand for counter-drone systems. However, legacy solutions to counter drones, such as ground-based defense systems and cyber warfare, often come with a hefty price tag. For German startup Alpine Eagle, these solutions fall short: When now-ubiquitous $500 first-person view (FPV) drones have the capacity to destroy multi-million dollar tanks, cost-effective answers are needed. “We use inexpensive, mass-producible systems to establish a symmetry against the numerical advantage of cheap strike drones,” Dutch entrepreneur Jan-Hendrik Boelens told TechCrunch. Munich-based Alpine Eagle, which he cofounded in 2023, develops Sentinel, a mix of software and hardware focused on cost efficiency. Unlike ground-based competing solutions, such as Hover’s counter-drone turret, Sentinel is airborne, with modular sensors that aren’t hindered by terrain and other obstacles, while avoiding becoming a stationa ... Read full article.