{"id":667616,"date":"2025-05-07T17:55:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/latvian-startup-launches-autonomous-drone-killer\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T17:55:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:55:28","slug":"latvian-startup-launches-autonomous-drone-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/latvian-startup-launches-autonomous-drone-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvian startup launches autonomous drone killer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Latvian startup Origin Robotics today launched BLAZE, an autonomous interceptor drone designed to destroy enemy drones by ramming into them or blowing them up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BLAZE is deployable on the battlefield in less than a minute. It comes in a small briefcase which doubles as a launchpad and charging dock.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Powered by computer vision, BLAZE has been trained to spot the difference between different aircraft types and distinguish them from other objects, such as birds. It combines this system with traditional radar to track aerial targets with high precision.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"resp-video-container\"><iframe title=\"Defence tech firm Origin Robotics launches BLAZE, an autonomous drone interceptor\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcdoc=\"&lt;style&gt;*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{background:#000;height:100%}img{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;transition:opacity .1s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,1,1)}a:hover img+img{opacity:1!important}&lt;\/style&gt;&lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/falOcJsJ-zM\/hqdefault.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn-hover.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;opacity:0;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/>&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allow=&#8221;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&#8221; referrerpolicy=&#8221;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;<\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once it locks onto an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), BLAZE takes off from the ground and zips off to intercept it. Equipped with a warhead, it smashes into the target, blowing up itself and the enemy drone too. It can also self-detonate once it gets close to its adversary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<p class=\"ica-text__title\">Open AI, Cherry Ventures Datasnipper, Monzo, bunq &amp; many more confirmed for TNW Conference 2025<\/p>\n<p>Join 1000s of founders, investors and innovation champions in Amsterdam on June 19 &amp; 20.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this may seem wasteful, each unit costs at least 10 times less than the drone threats it is designed to intercept, Origin told TNW, without revealing the exact price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While BLAZE is autonomous, Origin says operators retain oversight until the final moment. The device also has a \u201cwave-off\u201d function, which allows the drone to return safely or self-destruct if needed. This aims to reduce the chances of friendly fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As drones reshape modern warfare, Origin pitches BLAZE as a cheap solution to counter them, filling the gap between gun-based air defence and pricey missile interceptors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe need for a system like BLAZE is immediate \u2014 it\u2019s driven by real-world operational demands that are unfolding right now,\u201d Agris Kipurs, CEO and co-founder of Origin Robotics, told TNW. He added that the company plans to \u201cenable NATO armies across Europe.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of its potential customers is the military in Ukraine, where small UAVs equipped with explosives have quickly become the <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/jan\/04\/it-is-impossible-to-outrun-them-how-drones-transformed-war-in-ukraine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">weapon of choice<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the fight against Russia. Origin\u2019s flagship drone, BEAK, is already deployed in active combat in Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Ukraine also faces its own onslaught of Russian drones<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which has left it scrambling for lower-cost ways to counter these mass-produced aerial threats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January 2025 alone, Russia <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShahedTracker\/status\/1885582995685339297\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">launched<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over 2,500 drones into Ukrainian territory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe designed BLAZE specifically to address this threat \u2014 a fast, intelligent, and cost-effective addition to existing air defence systems,\u201d Kipurs said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn asymmetric warfare, drones are relatively inexpensive and widely deployed to overwhelm air defences and strike targets both at the frontline and deep behind it, making it challenging and costly to counter,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ukraine has increasingly relied on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first-person view (FPV)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> interceptor drones to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Cm-ZoLJ5RcM&amp;t=4s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">counter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Russian UAV attacks. These piloted FPVs are basically consumer-grade drones with an explosive attached.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhile creative, this <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach is extremely challenging and not scalable,\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kipurs<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> said. Using FPVs as interceptors, he continued, \u201crequires an exceptionally skilled pilot with extensive training and flight time \u2014 skills that are rare, even among experienced operators.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kipurs co-founded Origin in 2022 alongside <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ilja Nevdahs. The company has raised over $9mn to date. It also recently secured an R&amp;D contract from the Latvian Ministry of Defence and a grant from the European Defence Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defence tech is a key theme of the Assembly, the invite-only policy track of <\/span><\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/41IbD3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TNW Conference<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The event<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> takes place in Amsterdam on June 19 \u2014 a week before the NATO Summit arrives in the city. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tickets for TNW Conference are <\/span><\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4hueZwX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">now on sale<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u2014 use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to grab an exclusive discount.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/latvian-startup-launches-blaze-autonomous-drone-killer-for-nato-armies\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latvian startup Origin Robotics today launched BLAZE, an autonomous interceptor drone designed to destroy enemy drones by ramming into them or blowing them up. BLAZE is deployable on the battlefield in less than a minute. It comes in a small briefcase which doubles as a launchpad and charging dock.\u00a0 Powered by computer vision, BLAZE has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":667617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2025%2F05%2Fdrone-interceptor-origin-robotics-ukraine-war.jpg&signature=de397a8fd1b5f1a32ea9ee191a36b0ef","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}