Perseus Video Shows Low-Cost Drone Interceptor Strike
Perseus Defense released footage of its Harpe interceptor hitting a hovering multirotor drone during testing.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Robotics
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Perseus Defense released video of its low-cost interceptor, Harpe, hitting a hovering multirotor drone. Jason Cornelius posted the eight-second clip on social media on Nov. 2.
Why it matters
The company targets a price below $10,000 per Harpe shot, compared with the $100,000-plus cost typically associated with military drone interceptors. Its performance in U.S. Army testing could bear on how the country protects bases from inexpensive drones.
Harpe is about 61 cm long with a stated range of 2 km, and Perseus targets a price below $10,000 per shot. Independent verification of the interception shown in the company's video has not been reported.
The players
Perseus Defense
A company founded in 2025 by Jason Cornelius and Steve Messinger that develops low-cost drone interceptors and went through the Y Combinator accelerator.
Jason Cornelius
Co-founder of Perseus Defense, who posted the interception video on social media and who met his co-founder while both were graduate students at Penn State.
The details
Perseus Defense released video of its Harpe interceptor hitting a hovering multirotor drone, with the clip posted on social media by co-founder Jason Cornelius. The company said it earlier achieved radar-cued multi-missile launches during the U.S. Army's Golden Shield exercise, its first military-hosted live-fire demonstration.
Timeline
Earlier in 2026: Perseus demonstrated its system during the Golden Shield live-fire exercise.
September 2026: Perseus fired its Mk-III interceptor at Yuma Proving Ground during the Falcon Peak 26.2 experiment.
Nov. 2, 2026: Cornelius posted the drone-interception video on social media.
The Tech Race
Northern Command evaluated the Perseus launcher alongside other short-range options for protecting U.S. bases, placing the company among established counter-drone efforts. The Harpe's targeted price below $10,000 per shot positions it against interceptors costing many times more.
For U.S. base security, a cheaper interceptor could change how commanders counter inexpensive drones that threaten facilities. The Harpe's targeted sub-$10,000 price point is far below what militaries typically pay for drone interceptors today.
The takeaway
Cheap interceptors may shift the economics of defending against small drones, since the cost of each defensive shot can rival the cost of the drone it stops. Whether low-cost systems perform as advertised will depend on independent testing beyond company-released footage.
Further reading
For more on the machines defending against them, see the Robotics coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Defence Blog.
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