Sky Fortress is an acoustic early-warning drone defense system developed in Ukraine for detecting Shahed-136 drones initially.
Acoustic sensors consisting of mounted microphones and smartphones on poles, AI and machine learning enable the detection of approaching low-flying drones, which produce a characteristic sound. The system is significantly cheaper than existing air defense systems.Sky Fortress: Ukraine's Innovative Acoustic Drone Defense System skyCTRL, retrieved 3/8/2026AFA News: Ukraine Driving Air Force Search for Low-Cost Systems NationaDefense 9/17/2024
Deployed in 2022 it uses more than 10 thousand acoustic sensors across Ukraine. the Sky Fortress platform has been deployed by the U.S. military at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia as part of the defense against Shahed drones launched during the 2026 Iran war.
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