Low-cost, mass-producible defense systems
Hey everyone,
We’re Emil, Hugo and Fabian - co-founders of Tenet Industries.
TL;DR
Tenet builds low-cost, mass-producible strike drones.
By obsessing over manufacturability, we can build systems that are dramatically cheaper, faster to produce, and easier to scale than traditional defense hardware.
Our first product, Midsummer, is a low-cost kamikaze quadcopter.
Our mission is to apply our design and manufacturing systems to all ranges of defense products including low-cost strike systems, loitering munitions and missiles.
THE PROBLEM
The US spent $30 billion in two months fighting Iran. A single Tomahawk costs $3M. A single Patriot interceptor costs $4M. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are winning the long-game with $30k Shaheds and $500 FPVs.
The math doesn't work. Russia's war against Ukraine and the war in Iran proves that low-cost, mass-manufactured systems are critical to obtain victory.
THE CAUSE
Traditional defense contractors optimize for performance. Manufacturing is an afterthought.Â
The process typically looks like this:
Requirements → engineering optimization → manufacturing.
That’s how you end up with a $3M missile. We reverse the process.
OUR APPROACH
We start with manufacturing processes and the target unit economics, then design the product backwards from there. The tradeoff is that aggressively reducing hardware cost also slightly reduces hardware capability. Thus our software has to compensate for problems legacy systems solve with expensive components and high-tech materials. This creates two compounding advantages:
1. Our software becomes a core differentiator
2. Our hardware is inherently scalable because it was designed for manufacturing from day one.
Defense primes are still building the equivalent of Ferraris and Bugattis.
We’re building the F-150.
WHAT WE'VE BUILT
In four months, we’ve built:
- Custom all-in-one flight computer HW,Â
- Custom flight SW
- Encrypted and ultra broad-band frequency-hopping system
Our first product, Midsummer, is a low-cost kamikaze quadcopter designed for mass production.
Key metrics:
- Assembly time under 2 minutes
- Cheaper than drones in Ukraine, half the amount of parts, one PCB instead of four.
- Designed for manufacturing scalability from day one
Using the same software platform, we’re also developing low-cost, long-range loitering munitions and missile systems.
THE TEAM
Fabian studied vehicle engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where he led the avionics team for the university’s rocket association. Since the age of 15, he has been building submarines, rockets, and guidance systems.
Hugo Frisk is a self taught all-discipline engineer. After high school he started working on developing manufacturing solutions for the consumer electronics brand Teenage Engineering. PCB design, SW, computer vision etc. Later on in parallel he studied engineering physics. During which he led the development of electronics systems for the student rocketry association. Before leaving everything to co-found Tenet.
Emil grew up in a manufacturing business and learnt everything about mass production and DFM. At 18, he founded a hardware company developing and manufacturing industrial machinery. He later attended the Stockholm School of Economics before leaving to focus on Tenet.
All defense systems can be developed and manufactured within the founding team.
THE ASK
We’re seeking partners and contacts with military access who can help introduce and demonstrate our systems to defense organizations in Ukraine, across the EU, and in the United States.
We’re also looking to connect with cUAS companies interested in acquiring low-cost drones for training, testing, and validating their counter-drone systems.
