Growing with the drone threat: Inside MyDefence's next chapter

A black tactical case sits on the table in a meeting room at MyDefence's headquarters in Nørresundby, Denmark.

Inside are several of MyDefence’s soldier-borne counter-drone systems, designed to be carried by individual soldiers operating far from vehicles, bases or fixed infrastructure. The equipment is compact and not particularly heavy. But in the field, weight quickly becomes more than a technical specification.

- If you have to walk for kilometres, four kilograms more or less makes a big difference, says Nicolai Laugesen, Chief Revenue Officer at MyDefence, in a meeting with Defence Nordic at the companies Headquarters in Northern Denmark.

The remark captures much of what has shaped the Danish company’s position in the counter-UAS market. 

MyDefence has not only built its business around the largest platforms or the most visible parts of air defence. It has focused on the individual soldier, where size, weight and power consumption can determine whether a system is useful in practice.

MyDefence was founded in 2013. In most parts of the defence industry, that would still make it a young company. But in counter-UAS, Laugesen argues, the timeline looks different.

- We are a relatively young defence company. But when it comes to counter-UAS, we are one of the oldest, he says.

And that fact is the centre of the company’s current growth story.

For years, counter-drone technology was a niche area. Today, it is becoming a military necessity. The war in Ukraine has accelerated that shift dramatically, forcing armed forces to adapt to a battlefield where drones are cheap, available and constantly evolving.

The company's systems are in use globally, including in Ukraine, where the company says direct operational feedback has helped shape product development. Laugesen describes the technology as combat proven and says the equipment has contributed to saving lives.

- I once recieved and email from a Ukrainian soldier who fought at the frontlines saying our technology saved his life. That was a good day on the job, Laugesen says with a wide smile.

A few years ago, MyDefence employed around 40 people. Today, it has approximately 125 employees and expects to reach about 200 by the end of the year. 

The operational expansion has been matched by financial growth. In 2025, the company more than doubled its gross profit to DKK 256 million and reported an operating profit of DKK 97.8 million, compared with an operating loss the year before. 

The company has also raised its expectations for 2026, citing continued demand across the United States, Europe and Asia. 

The company's soldier-borne technology has become part of the US Armed Force's Individual Combat Equipment (ICE), the standard equipment for all American soldiers, Laugesen tells. 

MyDefence has expanded internationally, establishing production capabilities in both Denmark and the United States, while also building a presence in Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Singapore and most recently Poland.

Across the road from the company's offices in Nørresundby, employees assemble and test systems destined for customers around the world. The production floor resembles advanced electronics manufacturing more than the conventional image of a defence factory. 

MyDefence’s systems use passive radio-frequency detection. Rather than emitting signals that could reveal a soldier’s position, the systems listen for drone-related signals. As new drone types and communication patterns emerge, software updates expand the system’s ability to detect and classify them.

That creates a different rhythm from traditional defence procurement as the threats evolve just as quick as new solutions come up.

- It is a constant cat-and-mouse game, Laugesen says.

Drones change frequencies. Operators adapt tactics. Manufacturers develop new ways to avoid detection and jamming. Counter-drone systems must then adjust in response. MyDefence uses artificial intelligence to help classify unknown signals and identify new patterns in that environment.

The company’s presence in Ukraine has become central to that process. 

Feedback from frontline users gives MyDefence access to operational lessons that would normally take much longer to reach a supplier. In a market shaped by rapid technological change, that loop between battlefield and product development has become one of the company’s most important assets.

The next challenge is scale.

MyDefence has already secured a stronger position in the United States, including through its role in the US Army’s Soldier Common System. It has established production capacity in Oklahoma and continues to expand its international footprint. 

Asia is becoming more important, while Eastern Europe is expected to remain a major growth area as NATO countries increase investment in drone defence.

As counter-UAS becomes a mainstream defence requirement, larger companies are entering the market. Customers are also asking for more integrated systems. 

The future is not only about detecting a drone with one device. It is about connecting sensors, soldiers, vehicles and command systems across a wider battlefield network.

The broader ambition is distributed sensing: each soldier as a node in a larger network, sharing information with other units and command systems. In that model, counter-drone technology becomes less of a standalone product and more of a layer in modern military infrastructure.

The company is not old compared with the major defence primes. But it began working on a problem before that problem became urgent for much of the industry. Now, as drones reshape military operations, that early bet has become the foundation for global growth.

For now, the company’s story rests on a simple contradiction: in one of defence’s newest and fastest-moving markets, one of the more experienced players is a relatively young company from northern Denmark.