New BEAK Quadcopter Challenges FPVs For The Future Of Drone Warfare

A Latvian drone company is challenging the prevailing narrative that low-cost FPVs are the future of drone warfare. Origin Robotics have developed BEAK, a portable, reusable light bomber drone capable of hitting targets 15 kilometers away, which can operate even under conditions of total jamming. It already being used successfully in Ukraine.

The makers claim BEAK is the most cost-effective precision-guided weapon on the market. I talked to CEO Agris Kipurs about drones, cost-efficiency and the experience from Ukraine conflict.

From Toymaker To Weaponeer

Kipurs has a career trajectory which looks familiar. In 2014 he started out as co-founder and CEO of Airdog, a company making highly autonomous consumer drones. Like many others, he left the consumer side in the wake of the unstoppable rise of China’s giant DJI, which dominates the consumer drone market and whose economies of scale – plus government support, tax rebates on exports and other advantages – have made their prices unbeatable.

Like many others, including U.S. makers Teal, Skydio and Performance Drone Works, Kipurs and co-founder Iljah Nevdah switched from the consumer to the defence sector with their new company Origin Robotics. But in their case, there was a very specific motivation.

“We got into the military drone business right after the full invasion of Ukraine out of necessity,” says Kipurs. “Understanding that the situation in Europe had changed, our freedoms were potentially threatened, and we needed to strengthen our capability to defend ourselves. That’s what triggered us to start Origin. However, we would not have started Origin if Airdog had not come before that.”

The move to the defense sector was not ultimately as challenging as Kipurs feared.

“It was a bit of an unknown for us. We obviously understood we were stepping into an industry potentially very different from what we had done up until that point,” says Kipurs. “But now, after working in the industry for close to three years, our realization is that it’s actually not that different from any other industry.”

Kipurs notes that it may be very much easier to start a defense drone business in a small country like Latvia, which perhaps has less of an entrenched military-industrial complex wedded to traditional weapons. The threat of imminent Russian invasion has also helped break down barriers.

“It’s great to be from a small country like Latvia that truly understands the importance of having a strong local industry and also feels urgency regarding the necessity to improve and further advance its defense capabilities,” says Kipurs.

Kipurs says that once the company established a reputation by making the sort of drones the military needed and responding to user demands, things moved fast.

Military Grade Drones

BEAK is a man-portable drone with a maximum takeoff weight of 11 kilos including 4 kilos of munitions. It can be configured either as an ISR – ‘Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance’ — scout drone, or as a bomber with the addition of a Munition Integration Module. This can be added in the field without tools.

“Users don’t need two separate systems. They already have one platform that they know how to operate,” says Kipurs. “They simply change the Munition Integration Module (MIM) — and switch from reconnaissance to strike.”

While Kipurs has closely followed the evolution of low-cost FPV quadcopters in Ukraine assembled on kitchen tables from commercial components, he stresses that BEAK is a different order of drone, made from military-grade components.

“You cannot compare an FPV drone with a system designed for reconnaissance, nor can you compare a reconnaissance drone with a system that performs reconnaissance and is also capable of delivering precision strikes,” says Kipurs.

Several elements set BEAK apart from the budget sector.

“Technology-enabled resilience against electronic warfare is absolutely critical. This means having onboard systems capable of combating jamming and completing missions in highly adverse electromagnetic environments,” says Kipurs. “The quality of onboard sensors is also vital, particularly EO/IR [Electro Optical / Infra-Red – daylight and thermal imaging] camera systems. “

Sensing is enhanced not only by hardware in the form of a purpose-built gimbal with vibration isolation but also software including image stabilization and autonomous ‘Detection, Recognition, Identification’ capability.

This allows BEAK to observe targets from what Kipurs calls ‘industry-leading detection ranges.’ The thermal imager can spot a person on the ground in darkness from a kilometer away. A superior power system also gives a longer flight time, quoted as 60 minutes in scout configuration, or up to 75 minutes with a dual battery. This puts it well ahead of other systems which can typically manage 45 minutes or less.

In addition, BEAK has a high degree of on-board autonomy, as jamming of both communications and navigation is expected.

“We use the best available radios, with strong anti-jamming capabilities. Still, even those can be jammed,” says Kipurs. “If that happens, BEAK must operate entirely on its own and return safely. That’s where real autonomy kicks in. Long-distance return under those conditions is no simple task, but it’s something we’ve built into the system.”

This type of navigation, likely using optical recognition of landmarks, is becoming essential for drones in Ukraine, as jamming ramps up. Similarly, optical target recognition means the mission can continue even when the operator is not in direct communication.

In Ukraine, BEAK has performed as intended with no major surprises, giving feedback about real-world conditions.

“You always learn something new once the system is in the hands of end users,” says Kipurs. “Field experience is invaluable as it continuously sharpens our understanding and directly informs how we refine both the product and our R&D processes. Product development is never truly finished; it’s an ongoing cycle driven by real-world feedback.”

Incidentally, the name BEAK is not an acronym, just an obvious name for an aerial weapon.

“It is what it is: a beak, a tool for specific tasks, in our case, to strike targets,” says Kipurs.

And striking targets is BEAK’s speciality.

Precision Strike From On High

BEAK’s key advantage over its rivals is its ability to deliver precision attacks.

“[Beak] delivers munitions with great accuracy from substantially higher altitudes than other systems are capable of,” says Kipurs. “Even when delivering unguided munitions, we utilize our targeting software, enabling operators to hit targets precisely from higher altitudes. The main difference lies in our targeting software.”

Kipurs says that this targeting software already delivers ‘class-leading precision.’

In Ukraine, manually guided bombing has been impressive: dropping bombs into open tank hatches from altitude was once noteworthy but has now become routine. Ukrainian bombers now pursue and hit fast-moving vehicles, previously only possible with FPVs (as seen at the 0:27 mark in the video below) .

BEAK should make such feats possible from higher altitudes and with a greater chance of a hit. But this is only the start. As Kipurs implies. the next stage involves guided weapons.

“We’ve developed a precision-guided munition, PGM-18, that actively guides itself during descent,” says Kipurs. “BEAK, as the platform, acquires the target visually and transfers that visual target data to the PGM-18, which then course-corrects using its onboard guidance system to stay locked on target. The PGM-18 is equipped with its own EO/IR camera sensors.”

No radio link between BEAK and the munition means it is impossible to jam, allowing the drone to carry out precision strikes from even greater altitude and stand-off range. The only comparable development seen in Ukraine is a one-off Russian report of Ukrainian laser-guided drone bombs.

BEAK will carry two PGM-18s weighing two kilos each. At present it can carry two, four or six purpose-built unguided munitions.

“Improvised solutions are effective in wartime when you must adapt rapidly,” says Kipurs. ”But outside active conflict, professional militaries do not operate this way. They aren’t going to repurpose mortars into drone-delivered bombs because structured military procurement doesn’t work that way… improving munitions themselves, we not only enhance strike accuracy but also minimize the UAV’s exposure and risk, elevating overall system performance to the next level.”

More Bang For Your Buck

Cost is a critical issue with small drones, with Ukraine’s homemade $500 FPVs in one corner and $52,000 U.S.- supplied SwitchBlade 300s in the other. Ukraine has only been able to build drones by the million by keeping costs to a minimum. Kipurs sees it more of a question of value.

“When we compare our pricing with that of our competitors, we focus specifically on the cost per successful strike,” says Kipurs. “In terms of cost per successful strike, we are 20 times cheaper than, for example, a precision strike carried out with a Javelin missile. This is our basis for comparison, demonstrating that our system is extremely well-priced when compared with relevant alternatives.”

Again, BEAK is pitched as a military-grade system as opposed to some of the more improvised alternatives that are used in Ukraine. But it can still be cost-effective because, unlike FPVs, it is reusable. Kipurs says (reasonably enough) that how many times a drone can be used depends very much on the battlefield situation and there is no simple answer. But we do have real-world data from Ukrainian drone unit Birds of Magyar, who say that their bombers carry out an average of 69 sorties before being lost. BEAKs, which are more resistant to jamming and have more autonomy, should survive even longer.

And bombers can match FPVs for precision attacks even in cluttered surroundings. A recent Ukrainian rescue mission carried out by quadcopter scout and bomber drones showed the value of small drones with good sensors and precision weapons.

As counter-drone systems proliferate, survival may become more challenging for low-cost FPV drones without advanced communication and autonomy. Reusable, multi-purpose drones like BEAK may be the future.

Kipurs says that production can be scaled up rapidly. That might become extremely important quite soon. Many commentators suggest that when the conflict in Ukraine ends, Putin may turn his attention to the Baltic States including Latvia. Foreign allies may not provide the help needed, but a fleet of scout/bomber quadcopters with precision weapons could rapidly chew up a Russian invasion.