Qognifly, a Romanian deep-tech company specialized in autonomous drone counter autonomous systems (C-UAS), announces its public launch and the entry into a new phase of consolidation for its Drone Wall, an integrated detection, tracking and interception architecture developed by Romanian engineers and validated under operational conditions. In parallel, the company already has in its portfolio mature UAV platforms on the market - Class 1 (mini) tactical ISR UAVs, Class 1 (small) hybrid (endurance 17h+) and electric fixed-wing , cargo drones with payload of 50 kg+ and commercial anti-hail solutions - delivered so far in over 16 countries, says a company statement.
Qognifly's mission is to provide a European, accountable and affordable solution for airspace protection against drone threats, aligned with the standards and interoperability requirements of the EU and NATO ecosystem.
„The proliferation of low-cost drones has fundamentally changed the rules of the game in aviation security. It's no longer sustainable to respond to a €30,000 threat with a €200,000 or even a missile costing in the order of millions,” says Ion Mocanu, Qognifly co-founder and CEO. „With Drone Wall, our team in Romania has turned an idea into a battlefield-validated capability in Ukraine: an autonomous architecture with reusable interceptors and artificial intelligence that brings economic efficiency back to the side of those protecting infrastructure and communities.”
„In Qognifly, we have brought together aerospace discipline and innovation in AI and sensors to build a European drone countermeasure system designed for today's operational reality,” adds Anton Danici, technical co-founder. „Our goal is to provide defense forces and critical infrastructure operators with an effective, reusable and responsible tool - for protection, not escalation.”
From detection to neutralization: an end-to-end system against drones
Qognifly covers the entire end-to-end chain for countering drone threats - from detection and identification, to tracking, resource allocation and interception. Drone Wall is built as a unified and integrable ecosystem, designed to outperform fragmented solutions operating in silos. All components run on-edge, with low latencies and high resilience, and the system is continuously refined based on data and operational feedback from Ukraine to improve classification, prioritization and efficiency of intervention.
From operational validation to production readiness in Bucharest
Drone Wall is no longer a concept but a capability validated under war conditions, based on assessments in scenarios relevant to modern air defense.
On the basis of these results, Qognifly is entering a phase of strengthening its infrastructure and processes, preparing a dedicated facility in Bucharest for production on pilot batches and to standardize the integration and testing phases, without announcing the start of series production at this stage.
Qognifly has already signed MoUs with three Ukrainian companies, as part of the regional cooperation strategy.
The company already operates a European capability dedicated to the development and integration of UAVs, with end-to-end control over the chain from aeronautical design and composite manufacturing to avionics, sensors and mission software. This base enables process standardization, tooling and European supply chain readiness, and supports the transition from prototyping and pilot batches to pre-industrialization in Romania.
Drone Wall: autonomous architecture, economic efficiency and scalability
The Drone Wall is an integrated drone defense system based on ground-based radar, Air Defense Management System software and a family of interceptors in three range classes, including a reusable air-to-air variant with jet propulsion. The architecture integrates detection, tracking, target allocation and intercept command into an automated flow, enabling integration into a network-centric warfare framework in which sensors, effectors and command units share the same operational picture.
The system is designed for full-autonomous operation with a minimal number of operators, with the interceptor guided by radar and coordinated through ADMS to respond to the current volume and complexity of threats without relying on a dedicated human pilot for each engagement. With this approach, Qognifly is aiming for a cost ratio of approximately 1:20 to missile solutions, providing a scalable option for critical infrastructure and urban area protection with a focus on prevention and protection, not escalation.
In some configurations, the company utilizes industry-established components where it makes sense, Qognifly's differentiator is the integrated architecture and proprietary layers (autonomy with AI, ADMS, radar-interceptor integration, safety and security). This is in line with the company's COTS philosophy - Commercial Off the Shelf by lowering costs and impacting shortening time to product operationalization, providing better interoperability by using standard interfaces.
In defense, the relevant criterion is not the label „open-source” vs. „proprietary”, but interoperability with C2/ISR ecosystems, auditability (traceability, compliance and verifiability), robustness supply-chain and hardening for operation in contested environments. Qognifly applies these principles at the complete system level, with integration, testing and configuration control processes that ensure operational performance and reliability.
Qognifly has been in advanced discussions with several equity investors, including international ones, but the company has chosen to move forward with a local strategic partner, with a funding round to be formally announced in the coming period.
This funding will accelerate the testing, finalization of the jet interceptor and preparation of industrial capabilities for the Drone Wall, including the development of video and radar processing algorithms, multi-drone coordination and interceptors up to 500 km/h, as well as the expansion of the team and production capacity.
Qognifly supports the Black Sea Defense initiative as a regional collaborative platform for the integration and industrialization of Black Sea defense capabilities, a step that externally validates the technology and paves the way to institutional customers in the EU and NATO, in a context of accelerated growth of investments in C-UAS systems.
The company is committed to a responsible technology approach, focused on the protection of critical infrastructure, forces on the ground and the civilian population, in line with the safety, interoperability and compliance requirements of European and NATO partners. By developing and preparing for the industrialization of C-UAS systems in Europe, Qognifly contributes to European technological sovereignty and secure supply chains, with core values of engineering rigor, strategic autonomy and responsibility in the design, testing and use of technology.
Qognifly is a Romanian deep-tech and aerial security company, with roots in over 15 years of innovation in unmanned aerial systems, from helicopters and heavy-lift multirotors to fixed-wing ISR platforms and target drones for anti-air defense training. The founding team combines expertise in EO/IR sensing, robotics and AI “on edge”, image processing and interpretation, radar sensing and secure communications in GNSS denied environments, with a strong background in aerospace engineering and UAV operations in complex theaters in Europe, Middle East, USA and Africa.
Qognifly's portfolio includes the integrated Drone Wall system for drone countermeasures, reusable interceptors, aerial sensor drones, as well as high endurance ISR platforms used for surveillance, critical infrastructure protection, anti-hail, mapping and emergency response. All systems are developed, assembled and tested in Europe, with a supply chain aligned to EU and NATO standards and the ability to deliver from 3D concept to first flight in around three months for dedicated UAV platforms.