HELSINKI — Sensofusion Oy, the Finland-based counter-drone measures company, has gained an important foothold in the U.S. market for military defense systems against UAVs in the wake of a landmark contract reached with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx.

The deal will initiate continued development of Sensofusion’s Airfence proprietary technology, which is set to be integrated as the core of the lab’s counter-drone system.

Airfence has undergone three years of military testing with real-world tactical scenarios. The anti-drone system is equipped to automatically detect, locate, track and take over UAV controls. In addition, Airfence is able to locate the UAV operator with pinpoint accuracy in real time.

Sensofusion is hoping to utilize a large percentage of the revenues generated from the commercialization of the Airfence system to both establish a fixed research and development unit presence in the United States and expand its product development operations — serving global markets — in its home Finnish market.

Airfence is currently protecting military bases and high security sites in

Finland

and across

Europe

; these include senior government officials, according to Kaveh H. Mahdavi, Sensofusion’s chief operating director.

"It is our intent to position Airfence as the go-to hardware/software of choice for protecting

U.S.

troops, government officials and civilians," Mahdavi said.

The rapid expansion in use of commercially available unmanned aerial systems is driving Sensofusion’s revenues. Sales are being driven by elevated interest from armed forces, homeland security and civilian customers, including military sites, prisons, government buildings, airports and critical infrastructure such as power plants.

Airfence is positioned to become "a vital component" in integrated air defense systems, said Tuomas Rasila, Sensofusion’s CEO. The company plans to deepen its collaborative partnership with NATO, particularly in relation to the alliance’s anti-terrorist operations.

A next-generation Airfence is being developed to deliver a broader array of functions, including providing surveillance data and intelligence gathering for troops in combat theaters.

Rasila described the agreement reached with the Marine Corps lab and DIUx as having a "significant monetary value." Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"The deal with the Marine Corps means Sensofusion will start hiring more product developers in

Finland

," Rasila said.

The Airfence anti-drone system can be customized for use in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group in the Middle East and during potential attacks by ISIS using weaponized drones in rural urban areas in Europe and

North America

.

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