Perseus Defense Tests Low-Cost Counter-Drone Interceptors as It Expands Engineering in Texas

Counter-drone missile developer Perseus Defense has begun live-fire field evaluations of its micro-missile interceptors with the U.S. military. The Y Combinator-backed startup, founded in 2025, builds low-cost kinetic missiles designed to neutralize Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aerial systems at a fraction of the cost of standard air defense systems.

In November 2026, The Defence Blog reported that Perseus Defense released video footage of its Harpe interceptor climbing into the sky and destroying a hovering multirotor drone. The demonstration followed testing at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona during Falcon Peak 26.2, a military counter-drone experiment organized by U.S. Northern Command, NORAD, and Joint Interagency Task Force 401, as reported by Army Recognition.

Building Kinetic Interceptors for Drone Defense

Perseus Defense manufactures compact guided missiles that launch without prior lock, acquire target drones mid-flight, and guide themselves to a kinetic hit-to-kill interception. Its core system, the Harpe micro-missile, measures 61 centimeters (24 inches) long, features a range of 2 kilometers, and fires from an eight-round launcher weighing under 36 kilograms (80 pounds).

While standard air defense interceptors cost upwards of $100,000 per shot, Perseus Defense targets a manufacturing and engagement cost under $10,000 per missile, with prototype builds of its Mk-III interceptor costing around $2,500. In a video interview with Buda HIVE, co-founder and CEO Jason Cornelius stated, "the missiles that we're developing, um, we're going to price them for about $5,000 per shot." The system is designed to integrate into external sensor networks and receive radar cues passed through military command-and-control software.

During the U.S. Army's Golden Shield exercise with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, The Defence Blog reported that the company demonstrated radar-cued multi-missile launches and fully active guidance intercepts.

Leadership and Operations in Texas

Perseus Defense was founded by CEO Jason Cornelius and CTO Steve Messinger, who met as aerospace engineering graduate students at Penn State University. Cornelius holds a PhD from Penn State, previously worked at NASA leading work on the Titan Dragonfly space helicopter concept, and teaches aerospace engineering at Stanford University. Messinger holds a Master's degree from Penn State and previously developed autonomous landing capabilities for commercial aircraft at Boeing alongside research in swarm robotics.

To support manufacturing and testing, the company leased an 18,000-square-foot facility at Tower Business Park in Buda, Texas, south of Austin. As reported by Community Impact and the Austin Business Journal, the expansion was supported by incentive agreements from the Buda Economic Development Corporation and Buda City Council, with plans to grow workforce capacity in the Austin region. The company raised $6.5 million in seed funding from investors including Y Combinator, Alumni Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Bow Capital, and Lobster Capital.

Hiring Engineering Roles in Austin

Perseus Defense is recruiting on-site engineering talent in the Austin area to advance missile prototyping, autonomous guidance, and production scaling.

Open technical positions include:

• Engineer: Builds 16-inch missiles that neutralize enemy drones and protect troops, with technical focus areas spanning Aerospace Engineering, Computer Vision, or Embedded Hardware Engineering.
• Engineer: Develops hardware and software systems for micro-missile interceptors in Austin, TX.
• Engineer: Works on prototyping, testing, and validating aerospace systems and kinetic guidance architectures.
• Engineer: Handles embedded systems, electrical hardware, or computer vision for target acquisition.
• Engineer: Collaborates with multidisciplinary engineering teams on missile testing and manufacturing.

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) and hold a Bachelor's degree in engineering with 3 years of full-time experience, or a Master's degree with 1 year of experience.

See all open roles at Perseus Defense