Drones have changed the security environment around military installations and critical infrastructure. The challenge is no longer limited to detecting an individual drone near a single protected site. Authorities increasingly need to understand activity across locations, distinguish relevant incidents from background traffic, and coordinate an appropriate response.
Denmark is now taking an important step toward that capability.
The Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) has selected Terma to deliver an integrated system for counter-drone defense. The system will connect existing and future sensors and create a shared drone situational picture for the Danish Armed Forces and other authorities.
This addresses a fundamental challenge in counter-drone operations. Denmark already operates sensors across the Armed Forces, civilian authorities, and critical infrastructure, but information can reside in separate systems and locations. Connecting those sources can provide operators with a more coherent understanding of drone activity and a stronger basis for timely decision-making.
At the center of the solution is Terma Helion, Terma's sovereign multi-domain data backbone. Helion connects distributed systems and brings information from existing and future sensors together into a common operational picture.
The solution also integrates Terma-owned OSL Technology's FACE® platform for command and control and data fusion. FACE processes information from Terma radar and surveillance technologies as well as third-party sensors and countermeasures. AI supports the processing, classification, and prioritization of sensor data, helping operators identify incidents that require attention.
The significance lies in the combination. Individual sensors provide observations. A connected architecture can turn those observations into shared situational awareness, allowing information to support decisions at both local and central levels.
That becomes increasingly important as counter-drone operations expand beyond individual protected sites. An incident detected near an airport, military installation, port, energy facility, or government building may form part of a wider picture that is difficult to recognize when information remains isolated.
A nationwide counter-drone capability also raises questions about control of operational data and the ability to adapt as technology and threats evolve.
The Danish solution is designed to maintain national control over operational sensor data while allowing technologies from multiple suppliers to be integrated. Its scalable architecture enables additional sensors, sites, countermeasures, and other capabilities to be incorporated over time.
This open approach is particularly relevant in a rapidly developing counter-drone environment. No single sensor or countermeasure can be assumed to address every future scenario. The ability to integrate different technologies allows the overall system to evolve without requiring the entire architecture to be replaced when requirements change.
The solution will also draw on operational experience already established through OSL Technology. Since 2019, OSL has served as prime contractor and system integrator for Heathrow Airport's counter-drone system and provides counter-drone systems for Norway's Ørland and Evenes air bases under a multi-year framework agreement with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency.
Denmark's decision points toward a broader development in counter-drone defense: the shift from protecting isolated locations toward creating connected situational awareness across a country.
For military forces, this can strengthen the ability to detect, classify, and track drone activity while coordinating decisions across locations. For civilian authorities and operators of critical infrastructure, it creates opportunities to contribute to and benefit from a wider understanding of activity in the airspace around strategically important sites.
The result is not simply more sensor data. It is a framework for making distributed information operationally useful.
By combining Terma Helion, FACE, Terma's radar and surveillance capabilities, and technologies from other suppliers, the Danish system is designed to establish that framework at national scale. As drones continue to develop in capability, availability, and operational relevance, the ability to connect information across systems and organizations will become an increasingly important part of protecting military assets, critical infrastructure, and society.