Lisbon, Aug. 5, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's UA Vision, a company specialising in drone development, has been recognised by the European Defence Agency as the fourth best in Europe and the only Portuguese entrant to reach the first phase of the «Sentinel Strike Challenge», it was announced on Wednesday.
Based in Torres Vedras, UA Vision is the only Portuguese company to have reached the final stage of the «Sentinel Strike Challenge», alongside international giants such as Helsing and Thales.
Specialising in the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for defence applications (drones), it has been recognised by the European Defence Agency «as the fourth-best European company in the first phase of the international competition», which is considered «one of the most demanding European technology assessment initiatives in the defence sector, specifically relating to the field of precision munitions and autonomous systems», the company stated in a press release.
UA Vision recorded sales of €21 million last year and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €12.9 million, and expects to improve on these figures in 2026.
This result in the international tender «places UA Vision amongst a very select group of leading European companies, as the only Portuguese firm at the top of the rankings, in a field dominated by some of the defence industry's major international players, such as Helsing, Destinus and Thales.
UA Vision currently employs around 50 people.
The competition is organised by the European Defence Agency and involves a particularly rigorous evaluation process, conducted by an independent panel of international experts, who analysed criteria such as technological maturity, operational capability, systems integration, resilience in contested environments, security, operational demonstration and the generation of technical evidence, the company explains.
UA Vision's bid «received high technical recognition from the jury, achieving the highest score in one of the evaluation criteria relating to the concept of operational demonstration, security and regulatory framework».
In the next stage, in October, «the systems developed by the finalist companies will undergo testing and demonstrations in real-world field scenarios, simulating operational conditions close to those encountered in a military context».
This second phase «will constitute the practical validation of the technological solutions in the presence of representatives from the armed forces and European experts», the company states.
«This selection is an important recognition of the work carried out by our team and of the technological capability we have been building in Portugal. We are delighted to be able to demonstrate our solutions as part of this European programme and to continue contributing to the development of innovative capabilities in the defence sector,» concludes Nuno Simões, CEO and founder of UA Vision.
ALU/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
