The Telegraph reported the information.European defense startup Frankenburg Technologies is racing to deploy what its CEO calls "the most-needed capability in the Western world" over the next decade: the Mark 1, a 65-centimeter missile designed to counter Russian drone attacks without draining military budgets."We are not apologetic about the fact we manufacture weapons," says Kusti Salm, Frankenburg's chief executive and Estonia's former top defense official. "We are not afraid to say we are manufacturing them to take down Russian long-range drones."The urgency became clear on September 9, when NATO scrambled F-16 fighters to intercept approximately 20 Russian drones that violated Polish airspace. The jets fired missiles valued at around $625,000 to destroy Shahed drones worth less than one-tenth that amount—and missed half their targets. Military analysts warn such economics are unsustainable.In response, European leaders have pledged to establish a "drone wall" along NATO's eastern flank, combining electronic warfare systems with physical interceptors. The Mark 1 represents a radical departure from traditional Western missile technology, which Salm describes as akin to "a designer bag industry.""We want to bring affordability and scalability," Salm explains from his office overlooking Tallinn's airport, waving a full-size foam prototype through the air. Unlike the "exquisite" missiles that fill Western arsenals—rare, expensive, and engineered to perfection—the Mark 1 aims simply to be "good enough."The missile's 1.2-mile range and 56 percent accuracy rate fall short of conventional systems, but its price—roughly one-tenth the cost of a $500,000 Stinger missile—makes mass production viable. Frankenburg has established factories in two NATO countries with plans to manufacture hundreds of units daily.While Ukraine relies on skilled pilots flying cheap interceptor drones, the West lacks sufficient trained operators to protect 2,100 critical infrastructure sites along NATO's eastern border around the clock. The AI-guided Mark 1 offers a solution that requires minimal human oversight.Engineering a warhead, sensor, and fuel system into a keyboard-length package presents extraordinary challenges. Weight distribution shifts dramatically as fuel burns, affecting flight stability. Frankenburg's team has conducted extensive testing on wing shapes, positioning, and pressure centers to maximize accuracy.To tackle these problems, the company recruited aerospace industry veterans, including Andreas Bappert, designer of the widely deployed Iris-T air defense system, and the chief engineer behind the UK's Spear III missile program."There are quite a lot of experts who can build warheads, or sensors or engines. But there are not that many people who can integrate all these sub-systems into a functioning, workable missile—probably a few dozen," says Fabian Hoffmann, a missile technology expert.Salm believes the mission itself attracts top talent. "There's a lot of people who wake up in the morning, read the news and are angered by the injustice going on in the world," he says. "And we're one of the very few places in Europe where you can put your talent to work in somehow ending this madness."