Estonia’s Frankenburg Technology has unveiled its latest defense innovation, the Mark 1 missile, a compact weapon measuring just 65 centimeters, engineered to neutralize Russian Shahed attack drones, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to Telegraph. The company’s CEO and former Estonian Defense Ministry official, Kusti Salma, explained that most Western air defense systems, while highly precise, are costly and produced in limited quantities, leaving a gap for more scalable solutions.
Mark 1 addresses this gap by offering a simplified yet effective design, allowing for mass production at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. The missile has an operational range of roughly two kilometers and currently achieves about 56 percent accuracy, though engineers aim to increase this to 90 percent. While highly effective under standard conditions, its performance may be affected in extreme climates, including arctic cold or desert heat.
Equipped with AI-guided targeting, the missile provides partial autonomy for its launch platforms. The development team overcame significant technical hurdles fitting the warhead, sensors, and fuel into the small missile body. Extensive trials focused on optimizing wing shapes, weight distribution, and aerodynamic balance to enhance accuracy.
Andreas Bappert, the chief engineer for Mark 1, previously contributed to the Iris-T air defense system, which is currently in service in Ukraine. The production cost of Mark 1 is estimated to be roughly ten times lower than existing air defense missiles, offering a practical alternative for large-scale deployment against unmanned threats.
Currently, Frankenburg Technology operates manufacturing facilities in two NATO countries and plans to produce hundreds of missiles per day. Salma emphasized that the company openly manufactures Mark 1 for the purpose of neutralizing Russian long-range drones, positioning it as a critical defensive capability for NATO allies over the next decade.
Initial details about the Mark 1 program emerged in late 2024, with field tests scheduled in Ukraine, according to ERR.
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