Latvia, Estonia and Belgium have received the first ‘Blaze’ military drones manufactured by Latvian defence technology company Origin Robotics, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds has announced.

The three NATO member states are the first in Europe to deploy a fully autonomous interceptor drone system in response to growing threats to their airspace, Sprūds said.

Origin Robotics’ Blaze unmanned aerial vehicle interceptor is designed to intercept and destroy enemy drones and other fast-flying aerial targets.

According to the manufacturer: “Blaze is a man-portable, rapidly deployable interceptor designed to defeat fast-moving aerial threats, including loitering munitions and hostile UAVs. Equipped with an HE fragmentation warhead, it ensures precise and effective threat elimination, even in contested environments.”

Latvia plans to allocate just over 200 million euros on strengthening air defence this year, with 50 million euros invested in unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities, which is a significant increase in funding compared to last year, when 20 million euros were allocated for the purpose.

Origin Robotics, founded as recently as 2022, has made rapid strides in developing its business and received approval from the European Commission in late 2024 for €4.5 million in funding from the European Defence Fund to create a target designation capability based on unmanned technologies.

The promotional video below shows Blaze in action, though thankfully in real life it comes without the thumping orchestral soundtrack. 

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