MILAN — Danish aerospace manufacturer Terma Group has acquired U.K.-based counter-drone company OSL in an effort to boost its drone-defense portfolio, as European officials report an uptick in aerial intrusions aimed at critical infrastructure.
While the takeover process began earlier this year, a series of airspace breaches over the last few months has accelerated the procedure, Terma CEO Henriette H. Thygesen told Defense News in an interview.
“The recent European drone disruptions did not start the process, but they did underline the urgency and relevance of bringing a stronger, software-led, and open C-UAS capability to critical assets,” she said.
The new partnership will combine OSL’s operational experience protecting major sites, such as Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with Terma’s situational-awareness and command-and-control capabilities.
A broad range of third-party sensors, including radar, radio-frequency, optical, and acoustic data across all domains, will be fused to provide operators with a single, comprehensive picture.
Effectors capable of neutralizing hostile drones can also be integrated into the setup, completing the offering of a turnkey suite from spotting a threat to downing it, according to the companies.
Thygesen said recent incursions have exposed speed of detection as a key gap in defending against drones, leaving security personnel unaware of what type of threat they were dealing with.
“It is not enough to just detect anymore – you need to validate quickly that it’s actually a drone, reduce false alarms, and act with more speed and confidence, that’s where sensor fusion and disciplined workflows make a difference,” she said.
OSL began deploying its anti-drone suite at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, in 2022. According to the company’s website, the system is able to scan a given airspace for illegal drones and pinpoint their operators on the ground.
In the U.K. alone, there are over 500,000 registered drone pilots who have passed their certifications to legally fly systems weighing 250g or more, as reported by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Thygesen said major airports typically rely on counter-drone equipment from multiple manufacturers and, in some cases, deploy over 17 different types of sensors linked to various types of effectors.
Lessons learned
Airports are among the most challenging environments for surveillance technology. While some have taken voluntary steps to deal with rogue drones, others remain ill-prepared. A blog post by the counter-drone company Dedrone stated that some aerodromes are not required to meet measurable targets for detecting, monitoring, or airspace verification.
In a 2025 case study, OSL identified lessons from airports’ counter-drone systems. In one incident, a drone was discovered underneath a parked aircraft by ground surveillance after early-detection systems failed to record it.
“The drone had remained too small and too low to be picked up by radar, revealing a critical coverage gap – situational awareness isn’t just about tracking visible threats,” the study noted.
In another example, a radio-frequency sensor tracked a powered-on drone, except without visual confirmation. The culprit turned out to be a passenger’s drone inadvertently switched on inside their luggage while going through the luggage-transport system, prompting a 15-minute halt.
“At airports, the cost of false positives extends far beyond technical inconvenience; a single misclassification can have economic, reputational, and regulatory consequences that can have a ripple effect,” the study warned.
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