# Autonomous Low-Collateral Counter-UAS Interception

**Type:** work
**Status:** Draft
**Confidence:** Low
**Focus:** defense, counter-drone, autonomous systems, air defense, critical infrastructure protection
**Era:** 2018–present
**Location:** Lindon / Pleasant Grove, UT
**Updated:** 2026-06-25
**Pull:** *Fortem's drone-hunting drones are building the case that you can stop a cheap quadcopter without debris, jamming, or collateral damage.*
**Relates:** cites [Fortem Technologies Official Website](fortem-official-website.md)
**Relates:** cites [Fortem: Advanced Manufacturing Headquarters](fortem-manufacturing-hq-2025.md)

## Summary

Fortem Technologies, based in Pleasant Grove and Lindon, Utah, builds autonomous counter-drone systems centered on its DroneHunter interceptor and SkyDome radar and command-and-control stack. DroneHunter autonomously detects, tracks, and physically captures unauthorized drones using nets or other effectors — without jamming communications, showering bystanders with shrapnel, or requiring a human to approve every intercept.

The core problem Fortem addresses is that cheap quadcopters can threaten airports, military bases, prisons, energy infrastructure, and public events with near-zero cost, while most existing air-defense tools — missiles, guns, broad electronic jamming — are designed for different threats and carry serious collateral risks in civil or dense environments. Drone-on-drone interception is a physically precise answer to a physically precise threat.

Fortem reports more than 70,000 test flights and 5,500 successful drone captures in Utah, with operational deployments in Ukraine, the Middle East, East Asia, and U.S. border and infrastructure contexts. In 2026 the company began deliveries of DroneHunter 5.0 and announced World Cup venue-protection contracts.

## Impact

If autonomous low-collateral interception becomes a standard layer of civil and military airspace defense, Fortem's platform could represent a genuine architectural contribution to how institutions protect themselves from small-drone threats. The Lindon manufacturing facility, opened in 2025, has stated capacity for hundreds of systems per month — a claim relevant to whether Utah-built hardware can supply the growing global counter-UAS market.

The moral complexity is real: systems deployed for infrastructure protection have also appeared in active conflict zones where "low collateral" is measured against battlefield norms, not civil-aviation standards.

## What Was Created

A system stack combining compact TrueView radar for detection and tracking, DroneHunter autonomous interceptors, and SkyDome command-and-control software for networked airspace management. The technical claim is a low-size, weight, and power radar family capable of tracking small, low-flying drones at close range, paired with interceptors that can act autonomously once a threat is confirmed — removing reaction-time limitations of human-in-the-loop systems. DroneHunter 5.0 (2026) is the current generation, designed around counter-swarm scenarios.

## Utah Context

Fortem is headquartered in Pleasant Grove and built its advanced manufacturing facility in Lindon, Utah in 2025. The company says design, radar production, and interceptor manufacturing are consolidated in that facility. Utah's combination of defense procurement relationships, aerospace supply chains, and outdoor test space has supported Fortem's development and test program.

## Evidence

- [Fortem: DroneHunter Launch (2018)](https://fortemtech.com/press-releases/2018-02-15-fortem-announces-dronehunter/) — original product announcement
- [Fortem: Advanced Manufacturing Headquarters (2025)](https://fortemtech.com/press-releases/2025-06-17-fortem-technologies-opens-new-advanced-manufacturing-headquarters-to-meet-global-demand-for-counter-drone-defense/) — [source record](fortem-manufacturing-hq-2025.md)
- [Fortem: DroneHunter 5.0 Deliveries (Jan 2026)](https://preview.fortemtech.com/press-releases/2026-01-20-fortem-technologies-begins-deliveries-of-next-generation-dronehunter-5-0-advancing-counter-swarm-defense/)
- [Fortem Technologies website](https://fortemtech.com/) — [source record](fortem-official-website.md)

## Open Questions

- Counter-UAS operational claims are rarely independently verified; performance data in contested environments is largely classified or proprietary.
- The threat landscape (FPV drones, swarms, electronic warfare) is evolving fast; today's DroneHunter 5.0 may face challenges that require significant redesign.
- Company-reported capture counts and deployment numbers need independent corroboration.
- Ethical framing of active military deployments versus civil-airspace protection deserves ongoing scrutiny.