Aaronia AG, the German world market leader in the field of drone detection and defense, has had an Austrian subsidiary since May. We paid a visit to the branch at Bad Vöslau airfield and spoke to Managing Director Stephan Kraschansky about the range of services offered by Aaronia’s Aartos system, lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and current developments in the field of drone detection and defense.
Anyone who steps through the door of the inconspicuous office building at Bad Vöslau airfield south of Vienna will find themselves in a wonderland of drone defense. Stephan Kraschansky, ex-army officer and managing director of the company, stands in the middle of his training facility, which is secured to NATO standards. And the surroundings of the small airfield, with its numerous civilian transmitters and aircraft movements, are his playground. Nothing that emits radio signals in the immediate and wider surroundings escapes his tool, the Aartos system, which is now in its sixth generation.
The 32-year-old Upper Austrian has worked as an officer with ELDRO (-> see Military News Report), the special element for “electronic warfare for drone defense” of the Austrian Armed Forces (-> here you can find the latest army news) has been set up. Its personnel are also recruited from former army soldiers – and there is a good reason for this: they all have the necessary security clearances to be able to carry out their work in security-critical and restricted areas. The Aartos system is primarily focused on the armed forces and the defence sector, but the target group also includes civilian public security services, operators of critical infrastructures and organizers of political and other major events. Optimum protection against unauthorized drone operations
is the training objective for hundreds of trainees who are to pass through this training facility every year. https://militaeraktuell.at/der-ukraine-krieg-als-erster-war-of-drones/ With the developments in the Ukraine warin which small drones are playing an increasingly important role. And he recognizes developments that Aartos has already anticipated. For example, drones are less and less likely to remain in their “usual” frequency ranges, constantly adapting software and hardware to exploit gaps in the enemy’s electronic defenses. According to Kraschansky, Aartos, on the other hand, has no gaps; the system covers the entire range of frequencies that drones could theoretically use. The detection system sounds an alarm at most half a second after someone has activated a transmitter to connect their drone and prepare it for take-off. Both the location of the transmitter and the drone are permanently tracked and displayed. Aartos can also be equipped with electro-optical and infrared cameras as well as 3D radar for drone detection.
The defense begins with a rather harmless loudspeaker announcement in the direction of the drone pilot’s position. This informs the pilot that his drone is moving in restricted areas. If this is not enough, a jammer interrupts the control and video signal between the transmitter and the drone. To ensure that this intervention has as little or no impact as possible on uninvolved third parties, the area of operation can be clearly defined in the Aartos software. This also allows any official requirements to be met. To date, Aaronia AG has equipped more than 200 customers around the globe with its systems. These range from military and government facilities to educational and scientific sites and industrial companies and their infrastructure. What specific tasks and functions will the Aaronia Austria subsidiary perform? A question best addressed directly to the managing director.
Mr. Kraschansky, what business areas and services does Aaronia Austria offer in detail?
As a spin-off of the German Aaronia AG, Aaronia Österreich GmbH serves the global market in the field of drone detection and defense. Due to the relevant professional experience of our team, the focus is on police and military units and special units. In this area, we are responsible for risk analysis, planning, design, accompanying training and education in areas such as combat technology and tactics, on-site installation and customer support.
Can the systems also be rented?
Yes, that is also possible. We also offer a rental solution for drone detection and defense systems, known as C-UAS (Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems). We were already able to personally protect the 2022 G20 summit in Indonesia in this way. However, this service is also aimed at all other organizers of major events and operators of critical infrastructure, as well as police and military units worldwide. Around 90 percent of our customers are state institutions, and we attach great importance to maintaining the appropriate level of confidentiality.
Drone defense is currently on everyone’s lips. How do you see your company positioned in this area?
We position ourselves at the top end of the ladder. We can’t do any more with radio direction finding than we can. We can’t do any more in the jamming sector and we can’t do any more in the reconnaissance sector. Other, very renowned companies get big ears when they hear what we can do at the same time.
“Other, very renowned companies get big ears when they hear what we can do at the same time.”
Aaronia Österreich-CEO Stephan Kraschansky
In what way?
For example, our system is able to narrow down the areas of use geographically. And we permanently scan the full spectrum between 400 MHz (note: lower frequencies are also possible on request) and 6 GHz, no matter where, and the jammer can be freely assigned to the required sector at the required frequency. We also have electro-optical and infrared cameras, with the help of which we can immediately see what we have found. And all with the same system, with the same software interface. https://militaeraktuell.at/eine-zweite-black-hawk-staffel-fuer-das-bundesheer/
On what scale should the training and education courses take place on your premises?
Drone defense training lasts between one and two weeks, depending on the participants’ previous knowledge. However, as Aaronia Aartos systems are capable of much more than “mere” drone defense systems, we also offer special training in radio direction finding and reconnaissance as well as spectrum monitoring in general.
You mentioned that some prior knowledge would be useful and you train the rest. How long does the training on these systems take?
You are never fully trained in the field of electronic warfare. Training on the drone defense system as an operator takes a maximum of two weeks and about four weeks at the administrator level. However, in order to really be able to fully exploit all the capabilities of an Aaronia Aartos system, it is essential to take your time and gain the relevant operational experience. My credo is this: Every mission is different and that is precisely why every mission brings an invaluable gain in experience that can only be conveyed to a limited extent in the classroom.
“Every mission is different and that is precisely why every mission brings an invaluable gain in experience that can only be conveyed to a limited extent in the classroom.”
Aaronia-Österreich CEO Stephan Kraschansky
Is Aaronia AG only active in the radio sector or do they also build hardkill systems?
We do not build weapons, but there are various manufacturers who integrate our system into their weapon systems. There are corresponding agreements here. We have looked at and tried out a lot of things. It starts with radar devices, where only very special devices can reliably detect drones, and only at short distances. At the end of the day, two relevant defense systems remain: These are aircraft cannons with a programmed detonation point and jammers.
Your system is designated as a drone detection system, but since it captures and presumably also records a very broad signal spectrum practically simultaneously, are broader military sigint functions also possible, realized or planned?
Of course, drone detection is just one building block in the capability catalog of our products. The range of software and hardware products already available extends from complex measurement options, to sophisticated rack solutions capable of recording several GHz of live IQ data, through to real-time direction finding and triangulation of ultra-short signal bursts. All of this can then be fed into our systems for further processing.
Is the system ground-based or can it also be installed in an aircraft?
Where I want. We have suitable antennas for all applications. Even for special requests, we only need four to six months. Whatever the customer needs, we simply build it. We have our standard form factors and adapt them to customer requirements.
With so many customers and recipients around the world, they potentially have a lot of signals on their devices. Is there also a business model for collecting and utilizing such data?
This could actually be a business model in the sense of “big data” in the future, but is out of the question for us. Like all our customers, we place the highest value on discretion and confidentiality. Of course, this also includes the signals recorded by our systems. These are only processed locally and can only be viewed by the operator of the system.
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