DSEI UK 2025: Alpine Eagle trials air-to-air C-UAS in Ukraine

Alpine Eagle has completed trials of its Sentinel air-to-air counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) technology with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), according to a September 8 press release. The trials, which took place over the summer, demonstrated the system’s effectiveness in what the company has described as “an important operational environment for autonomous technology.”

Sentinel was also tested during Project VANAHEIM, which was a joint exercise conducted by the UK MoD and US DoD to test different C-UAS capabilities. 

Alpine Eagle’s technology is a counter-drone system that operates from the air, known as Sentinel. The system uses a drone to fly at altitude so that it can look down for targets hiding in terrain folds. The drone carries two other drones as interceptors, and they can reportedly conduct all C-UAS missions, including against loitering munitions, small drones, and one-way attack drones. The targeting software for Sentinel uses machine learning, sensors, and computer vision to detect, classify, and neutralise hostile drones, including small drones and loitering munitions. 

Sentinel’s software uses a high level of automation and data fusion, which is the process of combining data from multiple sources to produce more consistent, accurate, and useful information than that which is provided by any one individual data source. This allows a defensive swarm of airborne sensors and interceptors to be controlled by a single operator, the company states.

Following the trials, Alpine Eagle has been invited to continue its collaboration with the AFU, and the company stated that the conflict in Ukraine provides valuable feedback on the operational effectiveness of its technology in weeks rather than months.

Company Profile: Alpine Eagle

Alpine Eagle is a European defence technology company. It was founded in 2023 by Jan-Hendrik Boelens and Alexander Kox, and is headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company specialises in the development of autonomous counter-drone systems and airborne sensor networks for defence applications. Its focus is on creating automated systems that can detect and neutralise airborne threats. The company established a UK office in July 2025, following the path of many other European defence firms. Michael Golden, a former Royal Navy officer, is the head of the UK office and commercial director. 

Alpine Eagle is backed by €10.25 million in seed funding from funds including IQ Capital, General Catalyst and HCVC. These investment funds may sound familiar if you are a regular Calibre Defence reader: IQ Capital supported the Series A round for Quadsat, HCVC has invested in LendurAI, and General Catalyst has invested in Saronic, Applied Intuition, Helsing, and Anduril. 

Calibre comment 

The drive to develop cost-effective C-UAS capabilities is understandable. Russia is launching hundreds of missiles and Shaheds per week in a barrage that has only gained intensity and frequency since the war started. Contrasted with the West’s industrial capacity, which to all intents and purposes remains in a peacetime state, it seems as though our air defence capacity is outmatched by Russia’s long-range strike. And, to some extent that is true, but various efforts are underway and have been for some years to address the cost-per-kill issue with drones. 

Some of these efforts have involved air-to-air interceptions using the AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), which is a conversion of Hydra 70 unguided rockets with a laser guidance kit so that they can engage drones. The APKWS has been demonstrated in the air-to-air role since 2019, with the US Air Force stating that it was working on using the system to counter drones. The AGR-20, as it is known in US service, has since been upgraded to improve its C-UAS capability, and demonstrated an operational intercept of a Houthi drone in footage released in March this year. The APKWS is thought to cost around $20,000, and while it does not have the kinematic capabilities of a more expensive missile, it is likely sufficient to handle large targets like a Shahed. The same rocket has also been mounted on an MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV in a counter-drone role, but is not thought to have entered service. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on September 8, 2025. Credit for the lead image is Alpine Eagle.