– We do not like the idea of building drones for war. But we instead think that we are doing something to defend ourselves, says Nicolas Zapata, who owns Dronetools.
His company is one of several in a rapidly growing drone cluster around Seville in southern Spain. With the help of sensors and AI, their drones learn to “see”, that is, be able to fly independently even in closed spaces, and be able to distinguish between friends and enemies.
– All the knowledge we have developed is easy to also transfer to the defense sector, says Zapata.
The EU is investing heavily
The European Commission wants to offer EUR 150 billion in loans to companies in the Union that develop particularly important weapons and defense systems that are currently lacking in Europe. In Spain, a large test area was recently inaugurated for large drones outside Seville. In the city there are also multinational Airbus, which is involved in developing the partially EU-funded large military drone Eurodrone with a wingspan of 26 meters. But even the smaller companies hope to be able to get the money that is now being directed here.
Navigates by stars
– We here in Andalusia try to combine our abilities in constellations together with larger companies like Airbus so that we can seek funds from the European funds, says Jose Manuel Quero, CEO of Solar Mems.
His company also develops sensors so that the vehicles can navigate with the help of the sun and stars instead of after GPS signals that can easily be disturbed in war. They have military cooperation but more than that he does not want to say. In addition to the company growing very quickly.
– I don’t know exactly how many employees we are today. It will be about 2-3 each week, he says.
You are in a good position?
– From an economic perspective, we might be. But we do not want it to be war, it is talked about too much about the Third World War, says Nicolas Zapata at Dronetools.