Latvia's ORIGIN and US firm Anduril demonstrate joint counter-drone system in Latvia

Latvian defence technology company ORIGIN and US defence technology firm Anduril demonstrated a jointly integrated counter-uncrewed aircraft system (C-UAS, a system for countering drones) at a military training facility in Latvia in late October. Senior Latvian military leadership watched the demonstration. It came a little over a month after the companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 25 September.

How the system worked

In the demonstration, ORIGIN's BLAZE interceptor served as the intercepting element in an air defence setup built around Anduril's Lattice for Air Defense platform. The setup also used an existing radar system already deployed for Latvian air defence.

Lattice is a central command-and-control platform that links sensors and effectors and gives operators a shared operational picture. The companies say integrating BLAZE into Lattice took four days.

What BLAZE is

BLAZE is a radar-guided autonomous interceptor designed to engage aerial threats, including drones and loitering munitions. It uses radar data to steer its onboard autopilot toward a target, then acquires and tracks it for interception under operator supervision.

Next steps

ORIGIN and Anduril said they will continue joint testing and validation on NATO's eastern flank and will develop concepts of operation for C-UAS missions.