Fiducial takes on drones with autonomous system
From industrial 3D positioning to intercepting Shaheds: this Delft-based start-up is moving fast and already aiming to scale up.
When drone activity shut down Eindhoven Airport for two hours last weekend (and similar incidents set off alarm bells near the Volkel and Kleine Brogel military bases), it highlighted a worrying reality: hostile drones are becoming faster, cheaper, more autonomous and harder to stop. Countering them requires more than just detection. Interception is needed and, increasingly, autonomy in the systems that provide it.
That is precisely where Fiducial, a Delft-based 3D positioning and navigation company, has unexpectedly become one of the fastest-growing newcomers in the field of defence in Europe. Like BeephoniX. Fiducial can add crucial elements to our sometimes seemingly hopeless battle against drones.
‘We only switched to defence six months ago,’ CEO Andreas Verbruggen told the audience at Blue Magic Netherlands. ‘Before that, we focused on maintenance and quality assurance solutions. But we realised that the IP we had built up in the early years, including patented 3D positioning, could immediately offer a solution to the problems we were hearing about from Ukraine.’
Within months on the front line, not years
Verbruggen has travelled to Ukraine five times since the summer to work directly with units and manufacturers. According to him, skilled drone pilots are now ‘one of the biggest bottlenecks’ in the war. It is almost impossible to intercept a Shahed travelling at 200 km/h while watching a grainy analogue feed. Add to that GPS jamming and communication blockades, and the need for autonomy becomes clear.
So Fiducial built it.
In June, the company began developing software for the autonomous interception of long-range attack drones, such as Shahed drones. By the end of the summer, they were already conducting field tests, both during the day and at night, in which their software detected, tracked, pursued and engaged targets.
In several test runs — Verbruggen proudly showed them during his pitch at Blue Magic — the autonomous system reached the interception point before the human pilot could react. ‘In some tests, the pilot had to take over to avoid a collision, because otherwise our system would actually hit the drone,’ Verbruggen noted.
The goal for early 2026: to deploy more than 20,000 autonomous interception drones per month with Ukrainian partners.
A non-AI approach that works day and night
One of the most striking claims: Fiducial's interception core does not rely on AI. ‘Most solutions today use AI models, but we don't,’ says Verbruggen. ‘The advantage is that it works right out of the box, day and night. If a drone changes shape or speed, we don't have to retrain anything.’
The system runs on accessible hardware – Jetson, Orange Pi and other inexpensive computer cards – enabling mass deployment despite the volatility of the supply chain. It can be integrated into both quadcopters and fixed-wing interceptors.
A human operator will remain in the loop for the time being, although the system could already operate completely autonomously. ‘It's not necessary, but we've chosen to keep the operator for now,’ says Verbruggen.
GNSS-denied navigation: converting a sideways camera into a 3D map
Fiducial's second important product is GNSS-denied navigation, which uses only the drone's sideways-facing camera to determine its position. According to Rovers, the sideways orientation is crucial.
‘Looking down is easier for a prototype, but unreliable in real missions,’ he said. ‘With a sideways orientation, you get horizon data, more 3D structure, greater robustness and the ability to fly much lower and faster.’
The system does not require an IMU, making it platform-independent and easy to integrate. Early tests show that it can fly using only visual cues and a low-resolution map; even Google Maps-level imagery is sufficient. Discussions with Ukrainian drone manufacturers are leading to the first implementations in early 2026.
Counter-UAS from the ground: distributed, inexpensive, difficult to destroy
A third area of development concerns detection from the ground. Using multiple inexpensive (€70) cameras to triangulate targets, the system can locate drones with ‘sub-pixel precision’.
‘Our solution is more than 2,000 times cheaper than radar,’ says Verbruggen. ‘It is passive, distributed, and you can carry multiple systems in a rucksack.’
He emphasises that it is not a replacement for radar, but an additional layer that fills gaps, especially against low-flying or slow-flying drones. In combination with acoustic detection systems such as those from BeephoniX, the two solutions can complement each other. ‘That's exactly what we want,’ Verbruggen confirms during the question-and-answer session. ‘Launch based on one sensor, track with another.’
Scaling up, recruitment and fundraising
Fiducial sells software, while drone manufacturers take care of hardware integration. The company's engineers receive continuous feedback directly from Ukrainian frontline units, enabling rapid iteration. Encryption provider EmProof (also present at Blue Magic) ensures that the implemented software cannot be stolen, and Fiducial is collaborating with Emergent on integrated solutions.
The company is currently looking to expand: 5 to 7 people, including a chief commercial officer with extensive experience in defence. Fiducial also says it is about to complete a financing round. Another, larger capital increase is planned for 2026 to support European expansion and mass deployment.
A bold ambition
When asked about the long-term goals, Verbruggen did not hesitate: ‘We want to become the number one supplier of 3D vision and 3D navigation software for autonomous UAVs.’
With drone incidents on the rise in the Netherlands – from the temporary closure of Eindhoven to ongoing surveillance near Volkel and Kleine Brogel – European defence forces are looking for rapidly deployable, scalable autonomy. Fiducial is betting that software, not hardware, will be the key.