{"id":102259,"title":"Tenet - Low-cost, mass-produced strike drones","tagline":"Drones as Ammunition","body":"Hey everyone,\n\nWe’re [Emil](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilfalk/), [Hugo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugo-frisk/) and\n[Fabian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabian-andersson-11a067267/) - co-founders of Tenet Industries.\n\n\u003chttps://youtu.be/LekEfFricCg\u003e\n\n**TL;DR**\n\nTenet builds low-cost, mass-producible strike drones.\n\nBy obsessing over manufacturability, we can build systems that are dramatically cheaper, faster to produce, and easier\nto scale than traditional defense hardware.\n\nOur first product, *Midsummer*, is a low-cost kamikaze quadcopter.\n\nOur mission is to apply our design and manufacturing systems to all ranges of defense products including low-cost strike\nsystems, loitering munitions and missiles.\n\n**THE PROBLEM**\n\nThe US spent $30 billion in two months fighting Iran. A single Tomahawk costs $3M. A single Patriot interceptor costs\n$4M. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are winning the long-game with $30k Shaheds and $500 FPVs.\n\nThe math doesn't work. Russia's war against Ukraine and the war in Iran proves that low-cost, mass-manufactured systems\nare critical to obtain victory.\n\n**THE CAUSE**\n\nTraditional defense contractors optimize for performance. Manufacturing is an afterthought. \n\nThe process typically looks like this:\n\nRequirements → engineering optimization → manufacturing.\n\nThat’s how you end up with a $3M missile. We reverse the process.\n\n**OUR APPROACH**\n\nWe start with manufacturing processes and the target unit economics, then design the product backwards from there. The\ntradeoff is that aggressively reducing hardware cost also slightly reduces hardware capability. Thus our software has to\ncompensate for problems legacy systems solve with expensive components and high-tech materials. This creates two\ncompounding advantages:\n\n1\\. Our software becomes a core differentiator\n\n2\\. Our hardware is inherently scalable because it was designed for manufacturing from day one.\n\nDefense primes are still building the equivalent of Ferraris and Bugattis.\n\nWe’re building the F-150.\n\n**WHAT WE'VE BUILT**\n\nIn four months, we’ve built:\n\n  - Custom all-in-one flight computer HW, \n  - Custom flight SW\n  - Encrypted and ultra broad-band frequency-hopping system\n\nOur first product, *Midsummer*, is a low-cost kamikaze quadcopter designed for mass production.\n\nKey metrics:\n\n  - Assembly time under 2 minutes\n  - Cheaper than drones in Ukraine, half the amount of parts, one PCB instead of four.\n  - Designed for manufacturing scalability from day one\n\n\u003chttps://youtu.be/TxCh2dGftWk\u003e\n\n\u003chttps://youtu.be/Es1IEz3aeoc\u003e\n\nUsing the same software platform, we’re also developing low-cost, long-range loitering munitions and missile systems.\n\n**THE TEAM**\n\nFabian studied vehicle engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where he led the avionics team for the\nuniversity’s rocket association. Since the age of 15, he has been building submarines, rockets, and guidance systems.\n\nHugo Frisk is a self taught all-discipline engineer. After high school he started working on developing manufacturing\nsolutions for the consumer electronics brand Teenage Engineering. PCB design, SW, computer vision etc. Later on in\nparallel he studied engineering physics. During which he led the development of electronics systems for the student\nrocketry association. Before leaving everything to co-found Tenet.\n\nEmil grew up in a manufacturing business and learnt everything about mass production and DFM. At 18, he founded a\nhardware company developing and manufacturing industrial machinery. He later attended the Stockholm School of Economics\nbefore leaving to focus on Tenet.\n\nAll defense systems can be developed and manufactured within the founding team.\n\n**THE ASK**\n\nWe’re seeking partners and contacts with military access who can help introduce and demonstrate our systems to defense\norganizations in Ukraine, across the EU, and in the United States.\n\nWe’re also looking to connect with cUAS companies interested in acquiring low-cost drones for training, testing, and\nvalidating their counter-drone systems.\n\n[Website](https://tenetindustries.com/)\n\n[Contact us](mailto:founders@tenetindustries.com) at \u003cfounders@tenetindustries.com\u003e\n","slug":"QbL-tenet-low-cost-mass-produced-strike-drones","created_at":"2026-05-29T21:58:59.105Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T20:38:13.111Z","total_vote_count":9,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QbL-tenet-low-cost-mass-produced-strike-drones","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":31374,"name":"Tenet Industries","slug":"tenet-industries","url":"https://www.tenetindustries.com","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5849b2060564f1836d25c1fa4a3cd18ef1bf9553.png","batch":"Spring 2026","industry":"Industrials","tags":[],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/31374"}}