MBDA and Fortem Technologies have expanded their strategic counter-drone partnership, giving MBDA customers access to Fortem’s autonomous DroneHunter interceptors as an additional layer inside existing air-defence networks. The companies will also jointly offer FireThorn, a fully autonomous hard-kill interceptor co-developed to defeat one-way attack drones and other hostile uncrewed aircraft.
The agreement builds on a technical collaboration established in 2024, when Fortem’s DroneHunter technology was integrated into MBDA’s modular SKY WARDEN counter-UAS architecture. The expanded arrangement turns that earlier integration work into a broader market offering for European and allied customers.
FireThorn Adds a Dedicated Hard-Kill Autonomous Interceptor
FireThorn combines Fortem’s high-speed, radar-guided autonomous airframe with an MBDA NATO-approved warhead. The companies say it is designed to defeat one-way attack drones and other hostile UAS, explicitly naming Shahed/Geran and Orlan-type threats among the target set.
The product represents the kinetic side of the partnership. Rather than relying on a conventional surface-to-air missile for every drone engagement, FireThorn is intended to provide an autonomous interceptor option tailored to the cost and scale of modern UAS threats.
DroneHunter Provides the Low-Collateral Layer
DroneHunter addresses a different engagement problem. Fortem’s system autonomously pursues hostile or unauthorised drones and captures them with a net rather than destroying them with an explosive warhead.
MBDA and Fortem position this approach for high-density environments where collateral damage, falling debris or preservation of an intercepted aircraft may matter. That gives operators an alternative to hard-kill interception around airports, critical infrastructure, urban areas or other sensitive sites.
The Two Effectors Are Designed to Be Complementary
The expanded portfolio creates a deliberate mission split. FireThorn is intended for higher-threat scenarios requiring kinetic defeat, while DroneHunter provides low-collateral interception for environments where a net-capture solution is operationally preferable.
This is the core of the partnership’s layered-defence logic. Counter-UAS forces increasingly need more than one defeat mechanism because the cheapest, safest or most effective response can vary significantly depending on whether the threat is a small commercial drone, a reconnaissance platform or a one-way attack aircraft carrying a warhead.
The Partnership Builds Directly on SKY WARDEN
MBDA and Fortem began technical cooperation in 2024 around SKY WARDEN. At Farnborough that year, MBDA disclosed a new ground-launched anti-air effector concept using DroneHunter technology with a warhead added to the autonomous aircraft.
MBDA said testing had demonstrated the concept’s effectiveness and lethality against small UAS and loitering-munition-type threats. The new FireThorn offering is the clearest evolution of that work into a named, jointly marketed interceptor.
SKY WARDEN Remains the Wider Sensor-to-Effector Architecture
MBDA describes SKY WARDEN as a modular C-UAS architecture capable of addressing micro-drones, tactical drones and loitering munitions. The system combines multiple sensors and effectors with command-and-control software that uses artificial intelligence to support identification, classification and response selection.
DroneHunter and FireThorn therefore sit inside a larger architecture rather than replacing SKY WARDEN. The value for customers is the ability to add new interceptors without rebuilding the entire sensor, command-and-control and engagement chain.
Existing Air-Defence Networks Are the Main Route to Market
Under the expanded agreement, MBDA will offer DroneHunter to customers as a layer that can be integrated into their existing air-defence networks. Fortem argues that this is more useful than fielding another independent counter-drone system alongside established command architectures.
The approach reflects a wider trend in air defence: new counter-UAS effectors increasingly need to plug into common sensor and battle-management networks if they are to scale beyond local point-defence deployments.
FireThorn Targets the Cost-Exchange Problem
One-way attack drones have placed pressure on traditional air-defence economics because relatively inexpensive UAS can force defenders to consume missiles that cost substantially more than the incoming threat. MBDA has repeatedly highlighted this cost-exchange problem in its recent counter-mass and counter-drone work.
FireThorn is intended to occupy the lower-cost autonomous-interceptor segment rather than compete directly with high-end surface-to-air missiles intended for fast aircraft or complex missile threats. MBDA has not disclosed FireThorn’s unit cost, engagement range, speed or production rate.
The Partnership Fits MBDA’s Wider Counter-Mass Strategy
MBDA is expanding its counter-UAS portfolio through several technology paths. In addition to SKY WARDEN and the Fortem partnership, the company has shown DEFENDAIR alongside high-energy laser effectors and is developing the COUNTER MASS INTERCEPTOR with Poland’s WITU for high-volume engagements against drones, helicopters and cruise missiles.
This indicates that MBDA does not expect one effector to solve every drone-defence problem. The emerging portfolio spans reusable autonomous interceptors, kinetic drone interceptors, guided missiles, electronic effects and directed-energy systems across different threat and cost bands.
Fortem Brings an Established Autonomous Interceptor Base
Fortem’s broader SkyDome family combines TrueView radar sensors, command-and-control software and DroneHunter interceptors. The company says its systems have been used in operational deployments in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia.
Fortem has also expanded its U.S. government position in 2026, including selection as a prime contractor on a five-year Department of Homeland Security counter-UAS IDIQ vehicle with an initial ceiling above $1 billion. These developments give MBDA access to an interceptor technology base already being marketed and deployed outside the European missile sector.
The Announcement Is a Partnership Expansion, Not a Customer Order
Neither MBDA nor Fortem announced a specific customer, contract value, production quantity or delivery schedule with the expanded partnership. Fortem also notes that international sales remain subject to applicable export authorisations.
The next meaningful milestones will therefore be customer selection, integration into a specific national air-defence architecture and evidence of FireThorn production or operational deployment. Until then, the agreement should be treated as an expanded industrial and market partnership rather than a procurement award.
