The French-Ukrainian defence company Alta Ares has won six of 16 lots under a NATO framework contract to supply counter-drone capabilities. The company said this in a press release.
NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) selected Alta Ares as one of five companies from nearly 100 applicants. The list also included well-known defence firms from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The six lots it won cover area-protection and border-security systems. Alta Ares was chosen to supply area-protection systems in all three categories — fixed, transportable and capable of operating while on the move. NCIA assessed bids on technical capability and cost.
The company develops integrated air-defence systems powered by artificial intelligence. They combine software, sensors, command-and-control tools and interceptors to detect, identify, track and destroy aerial targets.
The platform’s software uses data gathered during combat in Ukraine and military operations in the Persian Gulf region. Alta Ares solutions are designed to counter long-range strike drones such as the Shahed and loitering munitions.
“A counter-drone system must provide a full operational cycle — from detecting a threat to intercepting it. That is the principle on which we have built the company. Our software incorporates data obtained during combat in Ukraine. We are working to ensure allied countries have access to next-generation air-defence capabilities at an affordable price and at the scale they need,” said Alta Ares CEO and co-founder Adrian Kanter.
The framework contract provides for not only the purchase but also the leasing of selected equipment. Procurement will be carried out via the NATO catalogue, which is expected to shorten timelines and speed up the adoption of new counter-drone technologies. The Alliance also plans to fund the purchase of equipment for demonstrations and trials to encourage its use by allied countries.
Alta Ares is scaling up production together with industrial partners and has formed specialised teams to deliver the framework contract. If it receives large orders, the company plans to set up production directly in the countries that will be buying its systems. At the same time, Alta Ares is working to strengthen and expand the European supply chain.
The framework contract to supply counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) capabilities is part of the Drone Edge Marketplace platform, created under NATO’s Rapid Adoption Action Plan. This mechanism will reduce procurement timelines through a catalogue of pre-selected systems and enable allied countries to respond more quickly to emerging threats.
Alta Ares is a defence company founded in 2024. It develops integrated AI-powered air-defence systems that combine software, sensors, command-and-control tools and interceptors. Its systems are used across several theatres of war. The company operates in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
In August, the Ukrainian office of Alta Ares was headed by Anton Drobovych, the former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.