Fibre-optic-controlled and fully autonomous aircraft are silent to RF-based counter-UAS sensors. The threat arrives undetected. TALONIS is the electro-optical and thermal sensing layer that closes this gap — designed to slot into existing counter-UAS architectures, not replace them.
Fig. 01 — Simulated depiction of a fibre-optic-controlled quad-rotor observed simultaneously by an RF receiver and an uncooled thermal imager. RF panel returns noise floor only; EO/IR panel resolves the airframe against sky background.
Most fielded counter-UAS sensors work by listening. They fingerprint the control link between operator and aircraft, and derive detection, direction and classification from that signal.
Two production threat classes deny that method entirely.
The command channel is a spooled physical fibre trailing from the airframe. No radio emission. Widely used in current combat operations.
No operator link after launch. On-board navigation and terminal guidance; nothing to intercept, nothing to jam.
Against these targets, an RF-only kill chain never begins. Detection fails; every downstream layer inherits the miss.
Electro-optical and thermal imaging sees the airframe itself — the target's physical presence, not its emissions. Combined with edge-AI classification and tracking on commodity hardware, this yields a detection modality that is indifferent to whether the target uses radio, fibre, or nothing at all.
Visible-band and long-wave infrared imagery, day and low-light. The physical target is the signal.
Detection, classification and tracking inference performed at the node. No cloud dependency, low latency by construction.
Built from off-the-shelf sensors and compute. Designed for unit economics and volume production, not bespoke assembly.
No performance figures are published on this page. Detection range, field-of-view, classification accuracy and latency will be reported against measured trials, not projected specification.
The same detection, classification and tracking core is packaged as a stationary sensor and as the seeker of a high-speed interceptor. The optics and the airframe differ; the perception stack does not.
Stationary, networked EO/IR sensor. Built towards SAPIENT compatibility so it can be added to an existing counter-UAS command-and-control architecture and cue compliant, low-collateral effectors.
The same perception core as the on-board sensing and terminal-guidance layer of a high-speed VTOL interceptor. Detection, classification and tracking move with the engagement instead of being handed off to it.
TALONIS is not a full counter-UAS system. It is the component that current systems lack against RF-silent threats. Integrators and end users are looking for exactly this piece.
EO/IR node acquires target against sky.
Edge model returns airframe class and confidence.
Persistent track ID handed onto the C2 layer.
SAPIENT-formatted message cues compliant effectors.
Effector — kinetic or non-kinetic — resolves the target.
Amber rule marks the stages TALONIS provides. Stages 04–05 rely on the integrator's C2 and effector selection.
The product is in development. Milestones below are reported as targets, not claims. Achieved milestones will be marked as such against dated evidence.
UK-registered company with headquarters in London.
EO/IR detection, classification and tracking on commodity edge hardware. Internal testing against representative targets.
First documented live optical and thermal track of an RF-silent drone, day and low-light conditions.
Fixed-node integrations with counter-UAS C2 stacks. Interceptor seeker packaging and airframe integration.
TALONIS is developed by a UK-registered software company headquartered in London. Independent, unaffiliated with any prime contractor.
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