Airborne RF Sensing & Lightweight UAVs Enhance Spectrum Awareness

During NATO’s Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia, technology firms Sky Spy and Orqa integrated a portable signals intelligence system onto a lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle to detect hostile electronic emitters in a simulated electromagnetic attack.

The demonstration involved more than 12,000 NATO personnel from over 20 nations and was conducted alongside Estonia’s 131st Infantry Battalion. The integrated platform, combining Sky Spy’s SkyAgent 001 with Orqa’s MRM2-10 FPV drone, successfully identified hostile emitters in the exercise area. This operational test showcased how airborne radio frequency (RF) sensing can expand collection ranges and locate electronic signatures beyond the line-of-sight and terrain constraints of traditional ground-based sensors.

Modern battlefields are increasingly saturated with RF signatures from radars, jammers, and drone control stations, with electronic warfare assets causing 85% of casualties in recent conflicts. While ground-based sensors face physical limitations and legacy signals intelligence (SIGINT) hardware is often too heavy or static to support fluid movements, deploying passive RF sensing on a lightweight drone provides mobile forces with rapid awareness of hostile electronic activity.

Hosted by the Estonian Defence Forces’ Force Transformation Command, the evaluation aimed to identify practical operational solutions for electronically contested environments. Following the field trials, Sky Spy is continuing to utilize its modular, drone-agnostic architecture to integrate its payload with global drone manufacturers.

Arsenii Hurtavtsov, CEO at Sky Spy, said, “As a company with roots in Estonia, this exercise with Orqa and the Estonian Defence Forces is an important milestone for Sky Spy. It demonstrates the operational relevance of our technology for allied armed forces and shows how lightweight UAVs can become part of a wider spectrum intelligence network. Seeing our system enhance spectrum awareness for Estonian Defence Forces units reinforces our mission to develop interoperable SIGINT systems that can operate across platforms and domains.”

Srdjan Kovacevic, co-founder and CEO at Orqa, commented, “Working in partnership with Sky Spy, we’ve shown that combining passive RF sensing with our lightweight UAVs is a practical solution to the challenge of gathering intelligence in hostile electromagnetic environments. Orqa is committed to working with leading western players on the creation of third party additions for our latest generation of products specifically designed to support bespoke customer developments. As the largest drone manufacturer in the EU to build both integrated systems and components, we are proud to support the Estonian Defence Forces. Taking part in Exercise Spring Storm gave us an important opportunity to do exactly that, while deepening our understanding of the issues faced by allied armies operating in electronically contested battlespaces.”