Netherlands: A high-velocity drone launched at a disused Dutch airbase by the North Sea roars through the clouds and intercepts a mock enemy target detected by radar and verified using artificial intelligence.
The test by software company Intelic, which has a €30 million contract with the Dutch Defence Ministry to upgrade its air defences, is an example of how technology is being developed and provided to Ukraine by European companies to help it defend itself against Russian attacks.
Amsterdam-based Intelic, one of scores of firms operating out of converted hangars at the airbase, now has an office in Kyiv and is helping Ukrainian forces as they face intensified Russian drone and missile barrages in a war where drones have transformed the battlefield and driven rapid innovation.
In the test in late September, Intelic’s AI-powered software, Nexus, used multiple radars, sensors, and cameras provided by other companies to identify the projectile as an enemy attack. A reconnaissance drone then verified that it was an enemy drone using image recognition.
Although a human made the final decision to launch the AI-guided interceptor drone, the process could be fully autonomous, Intelic CEO and founder Maurits Korthals Altes said.
“Most of these systems use AI at the edge, so in the drone itself, to be able to hit a target, a flying drone, for instance, and then actually get intercepted at high speeds,” he said.
“But you can also have AI for decision support,” he said, referring to its potential use in assisting a commander in the field, where there can sometimes be a window of only a few seconds to decide whether or not to fire on an incoming jet-propelled drone.
The integration between different systems enables a commander to make such decisions quickly. At high speeds, Korthals Altes said, “you’re not so likely to hit it manually, and you need a more autonomous system.”
The Dutch government’s investment is part of a wider spending push by the NATO country, which has allocated about €1.4 billion since 2022 to Ukraine’s drone programme, making it one of Europe’s leading contributors alongside Germany and Britain, according to figures from the Kiel Institute in Germany.
