- A drone maker received $74 million in a funding round involving NATO.
- Tekever’s gear has been used in Ukraine, a vast proving ground for drone warfare.
- Its drones are not weapons, focusing on surveillance and intelligence.
A dronemaking startup whose equipment is being used by the Ukrainian military got a cash injection from NATO.
Tekever, a Portuguese firm, raised $74 million from a group of investors, including NATO’s Innovation Fund.
The company has said its equipment is being used in Ukraine though not which of its models were sent.
Though its equipment has military uses, Tekever doesn’t produce weapons: the drones are for intelligence-gathering.
The war in Ukraine has become a proving ground for drone warfare. Drones are used for surveillance, to carry light supplies, for targeting assistance, and as weapons.
The battlefield features drones from around the world, spanning cheap consumer drones, high-end military hardware, and improvised systems.
The UK Ministry of Defence posted an image of Tekever’s AR3 drone in March while announcing a support package for Ukraine — perhaps giving a hint at what was sent.
A new £60 million package of military support from the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine will provide advanced new surveillance drones to support 🇺🇦’s Armed Forces.
It will also include £20 million to provide air defence systems to help keep Ukraine’s skies safe. pic.twitter.com/LyUCIdVYjZ
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 22, 2024
Tekever’s CEO, Ricardo Mendes, said an interview with City A.M. in May that the firm “started working with Ukrainian forces some time ago, after the war started.”
Long range, resistant to jamming
“All our products are very prepared to fly to long distances, to cover fast areas, and do surveillance,” Mendes said. “And that’s basically the primary mission that our drones are doing in Ukraine.”
“They’re very resilient,” said Mendes of the systems. “So they are very autonomous. They can fly even in situations where you don’t have a GPS signal, or you don’t have comms, and so they’re very resistant to fly in very denied environments where there’s jamming and all those military types of environments.”
Tekever advertises the AR3 as launchable either from ships or on land. Ukraine doesn’t have a conventional navy, so it would likely not be able to use the ship-borne functionality.
The company says it can fly for 16 hours, with a range of 62 miles. It weighs 55 pounds and has a wingspan of 11 feet.
Mothership
The company is working on its largest drone yet, the ARX, which can carry swarms of smaller drones to extend operational capabilities. Mendes calls this the “holy grail of surveillance,” combining speed, payload capacity, and adaptability.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since early 2022 has redefined drone warfare.
The key role of drones is fuelling a drone arms race between Russia and Ukraine, as well as their allies.
Business Insider reported in September that a command in Ukraine predicted that AI advances would lead to drone warfare becoming “truly unmanned” within months.
Tekever’s drones have also been used by the British government to track migrant smugglers in the English Channel.
Tekever did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for an interview.
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