VANEA Defence announces ATOMZA drone defence system for civilian operators

By Atlas Watchline Staff · Corporate · August 27, 2026

VANEA Defence says ATOMZA is commercially available for civilian operators and will debut at a drone event in Bremen, Germany.

VANEA Defence said on Aug. 27, 2026, that it unveiled ATOMZA in Munich and is making it commercially available for civilian operators.

The company says the system is designed for civilian deployment and can be operated by private organisations without sovereign enforcement powers. It describes ATOMZA as a non-kinetic optical effector that uses directed photonic radiation to disable a drone’s optical sensors without destroying the aircraft.

VANEA says the system is intended to respond to drone threats without interventions reserved for public security authorities. The company also says the approach is designed to reduce the risk of collateral damage from drones that spin out of control.

According to the release, ATOMZA will make its public debut at Drone Days in Bremen, Germany, on Aug. 27-28, 2026. VANEA says the system is already being tested and validated under operational conditions by security authorities and critical infrastructure operators in Germany.

The company adds that further trials with military partners are scheduled for the coming weeks. It says it is also in discussions with additional European authorities and international security partners for broader deployment across Europe in the months ahead.

VANEA identified Jens Hillenköter as executive vice president for Unmanned Aircraft Systems & Counter-UAVs. Hillenköter said Europe’s threat landscape is changing rapidly and that critical infrastructure needs protection quickly, according to the release.

The company also quoted co-founder and CTO Dr. Oliver Hartkorn, who said European defence technology needs a European technological foundation and that VANEA trains its AI in Europe to create strategic sovereignty.

VANEA said it was founded in Munich in 2025 and develops technologies around a proprietary AI model built and trained entirely in Europe. The company said that foundation is designed to operate independently of non-European infrastructure and supports an integrated family of counter-UAS technologies, including ATOMZA, multi-countermeasure networks and threat-detection systems.

The release said VANEA Defence is a brand of publicly listed SCP Standard Capital Partners AG, listed on Xetra under the symbol CAP.

What happens next is the public debut in Bremen, followed by additional trials with military partners and continued talks with authorities and security partners, according to the company.

Sources

• PR Newswire release

Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.

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