Low-Cost, Autonomous Kinetic Interception.

Vandaris Defense is developing low-cost interceptor drones that use onboard AI vision to find and stop small hostile drones.

Loading airframe model…

Sprinter Gen-3 airframe · drag to rotate

AI detection

The interceptor starts by finding the drone.

Our in-house detection model identifies drones across varied airframes and backgrounds.

Test footage, slowed · scores are per-detection confidence, not overall accuracy

The problem

Cheap drones broke the cost-per-kill math.

Small attack drones cost hundreds to low thousands of dollars. Missile interceptors cost orders of magnitude more, and piloted FPV interceptors need an operator for every shot. Defending at scale takes interceptors that are inexpensive and guide themselves.

The system

Guidance and airframe, built in parallel.

We develop the guidance and the high-speed airframe on separate testbeds, then combine them into one autonomous interceptor.

Bench testing

Scythe

Terminal guidance testbed

A 5-inch FPV airframe with Raspberry Pi 5 compute, used to develop vision-based guidance on the bench and in simulation.

Airframe: 5" carbon FPV
Compute: Raspberry Pi 5
Guidance: Onboard vision

Specifications

Airframe: 5" carbon FPV
Compute: Raspberry Pi 5 companion
Vision: YOLO + Δx/Δy @ 180+ FPS (bench)
Guidance: GPS-denied IBVS (simulation)
Simulation: PX4 / Gazebo SITL pursuit

02 · Airframe

Built · preparing for first flight

Sprinter

High-speed airframe · Gen-3

A low-drag airframe with flight electronics integrated. It flies under manual control first; autonomy is added once both testbeds are proven.

Profile: Low-drag fuselage
Layout: Swept quad-rotor
Avionics: Modular nosecone bay

Specifications

Layout: Swept quad-rotor configuration
Profile: Low-drag projectile fuselage
Bay: Modular nosecone avionics bay
Control: Manual flight (first flight pending)

Design history

Sprinter airframe lineup, left to right: Gen-1 compact rocket body with twin side motor pods, Gen-2 winged fuselage with wingtip nacelles, Gen-3 Sprinter with swept motor nacelles — Three airframe generations, each shaped by test data from the last: a compact rocket body, a winged fuselage, and the swept-nacelle Gen-3 Sprinter.

Aircraft contour visualization demonstrated on test footage

Outline detection

Beyond the bounding box.

Outline detection traces the airframe itself, not just a box around it.

Progress

Proof before claims.

Vandaris is early-stage and not field-deployed. Here is what has been demonstrated, and what comes next.

Demonstrated

Drone detection and aircraft outline detection on test footage
Real-time YOLO detection on Raspberry Pi 5 at 180+ FPS, on the bench
Vision-based pursuit guidance in PX4 / Gazebo simulation
Sprinter Gen-3 airframe built with flight electronics integrated