In 2025, two Australian companies – DroneShield and Electro Optic Systems (EOS) – moved from niche suppliers to central actors in NATO’s response to the drone threat over Europe and Ukraine. Their technologies are different but complementary: DroneShield specialises in “soft‑kill” detection and jamming, while EOS brings “hard‑kill” effectors such as guns, lasers and, now, interceptor drones. Importantly, there is no publicly announced formal joint venture between DroneShield and EOS as of December 2025. Instead, their cooperation is happening in practice: their systems are increasingly deployed side‑by‑side inside layered counter‑UAS architectures that NATO states and Australia are rushing to field. A new phase in Europe’s drone war The year has