Hanwha Moves to Secure Illegal Drone Countermeasure Technology

Lockheed Martin and US 'Portem Technologies' Invest $17.8 Million

Concept image of Portem Technologies' illegal drone countermeasure system. A drone equipped with AI capabilities captures and neutralizes illegal drones using a net. Photo by Hanwha Aerospace

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Hanwha Aerospace is taking steps to secure technology to counter threats from drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles. The company aims to acquire capabilities to automatically detect, identify, and neutralize the rapidly increasing number of attack and illegal drones worldwide, thereby maximizing synergy with existing businesses as well as enhancing national security.

On the 22nd, Hanwha Aerospace announced that it invested a total of $17.8 million (approximately 22.5 billion KRW) in Fortem Technologies through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) contract, together with U.S. companies such as Lockheed Martin.

SAFE is an investment method where funds are prepaid and equity is acquired later at a discounted price. It is mainly used to quickly secure promising startups with advanced technology amid fierce early-stage investment competition.

Fortem Technologies is a company that possesses an anti-drone defense system which detects illegal drones using its own radar equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) software, then deploys autonomous drones to capture and neutralize them with nets. Since it does not destroy the drones, it fundamentally prevents secondary damage caused by falling drone debris in urban areas, and it is already in practical use.

Hanwha plans to collaborate with Fortem Technologies to secure drone countermeasure technology integrated with existing weapon systems and to apply it to collision avoidance functions for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in the future.

According to a global market research firm, as various terrorist acts and illegal activities using drones increase worldwide, the drone countermeasure market is expected to grow from $1.4 billion (approximately 1.8251 trillion KRW) in 2021 to $12.6 billion (approximately 16.4266 trillion KRW) by 2030.

A Hanwha Aerospace official stated, “By securing world-class drone countermeasure technology, we will protect national security as a leading defense company and enter related markets to develop Hanwha’s weapon systems to a global top-tier level.”