Finnish company could play big role in building drone wall

In Finland, a leading defence technology is being developed, one which is believed to increase in significance in the coming years. The Vantaa-based company Sensofusion is one of the few companies with strong skills in intercepting armed drones. The firm has practically no competitors in Finland.

Drone combating became highly topical this month when Russian drones breached Polish airspace. Sensofusion has developed systems which can detect drone movements from as far as 200 km away. Sensofusion’s products have been used for a long time in places such as Ukraine.

Tuomas Rasila, the founder and CEO of Sensofusion, became interested in drones long before they became an instrument of warfare. Rasila is an exceptional entrepreneur in his field, as he has no academic training in the sector.

“I already had a background in defence equipment, with a focus on radio technology. I started my business when I got interested in drones after I started building them back in the day. Above all, I was interested in protection against drones when they are used by criminals and in war,” Rasila says.

What is a drone wall?

The drone wall is a system capable of detecting, identifying and, if necessary, intercepting and destroying invading drones, that is, unarmed aircraft. The system can be based on technologies such as radar and senses which help track drones’ movements.

The drone wall is a joint initiative by the Baltic countries, the preparatory work for which is under way.

Sensofusion, founded in 2016, aims to develop means which are as effective as possible for detecting and intercepting drones. At that time, the first small cheap drones were coming on the market, exciting amateurs. The company invented its first product the year it was founded.

The start was immediately promising: in 2018 the Vantaa-based company managed to sign a contract with the US Marine Corps. The firm delivered a product intended for product development which was not designed for operative use.

The company has seen rapid growth in demand for its operative hardware because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was led to an almost unprecedented armament wave. That changed the Sensofusion strategy: the focus shifted completely to military operations, which now accounts for the vast majority of the company’s turnover. Rasila believes that his company has a chance to influence the cost-effectiveness of warfare.

“I don’t believe that a long-term military solution exists for any conflict in the world. But for as long as there is no diplomatic solution, military might must be developed. At present, it’s hard to see how the war in Ukraine could develop towards peace. If defensive technology becomes more price competitive, making defence cheaper, aggression might no longer have such a large impact.”

Fibreoptic drones challenge interception

PIA, the Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries interest group, released fresh figures in June about its member companies’ combined turnover, which grew by 12% in 2024. The companies’ combined turnover in 2024 was around €2.95 billion, up from €2.6 billion in 2023.

Even though the growth was particularly strong in the space business (increasing by 44%), the traditional defence sector grew strongly as well, by about 31%. In 2024, the members of PIA directly employed just over 12,000 people. Indirectly, the sector employs around 30,000 full-time equivalents (FTE). Sensofusion is not a member of PIA.

Sensofusion manufactures drone-identifying sensors aimed at intercepting autonomous weapons, such as attack drones. The company’s strategy says that its products are designed against weapons, not people.

Rasila says that most of the drones used in reconnaissance use active radios to send data, actively transmitting radio signals. These signals can be used to calculate where the drone is flying.

If the control channels’ radios are jammed by sending strong signals, such as on GPS frequencies, a large portion of drones lose their manoeuvrability and ability to locate themselves. That same method can be used to disrupt civil aviation. In practice, GPS jamming means preventing the satellite navigation system from picking up satellite signals. We can’t directly prevent interference like this, but we can develop drones’ resilience.

“The only way we can prevent interference is by striving to ensure that nobody can turn jammers on. And that is impossible in practice,” Rasila says.

Sensofusion is aiming to develop systems that survive as well as possible in an environment with lots of jamming. One of the biggest problems is fibreoptic drones, which do not operate on radio frequencies.

“They are equipped with a fibreoptic cable link. In practice, a fibreoptic drone carries a reel of cable that can be dozens of kilometres long. That means the drone has not need to communicate on radio frequencies at all. There are also other systems that can navigate without radio frequencies. You can do a system like this, for example with a camera that’s capable of scanning the ground surface and comparing what it sees with a map. All this happens fully automatically,” Rasila says.

But can technology like this even be intercepted with modern methods?

“We’re currently rushing to develop solutions that we can use to tackle a weapon like this. Whenever a new drone technology is developed, it doesn’t mean the old methods disappear. The number of threats just increases.”

Rasila notes that drones can also be intercepted with kinetic effect: that means crashing a remote-controlled object into the intercepted drone. Such an object can carry an explosive. Anti-aircraft weapons are also used.

No skill shortage

Rasila says that the rapid rise of drone technology and their use in widespread warfare has even been a surprise for experts.

“Drones are cheap and convenient equipment for that purpose. Right now, Europe is witnessing the world’s largest drone war. We weren’t prepared for this.”

At present, Sensofusion is mostly delivering its products to Europe. Its second largest market is North America, followed by the Middle East.

European armament is significantly accelerating business: Sensofusion has grown so fast in recent years, its turnover has trebled annually.

“Growth requires us to make better products constantly. We’re investing strongly in product development at the moment. We’ll invest automatically until we can respond to the threat.”

Last year, the company employed just over 20 people, and now employs over 60. Rasila predicts the number will exceed one hundred by the end of the year. The company has hired the most people in product development. It has so far been able to find new hires in Finland.

“The labour supply in Finland is relatively good. We welcome applicants with a basic engineering background from the IT and radio technology sectors. Most of our team are experts. We haven’t noticed a skills shortage yet.”

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