NUBURU Reports Initial Tekne Dazzler Counter-UAS Test Results

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

NUBURU, Inc., the next-generation dual-use Defense & Security integrated platform company focused on non-kinetic effects and directed-energy technologies, electronic warfare and defense mobility programs, software-orchestrated defense systems, and advanced manufacturing, announced highly encouraging initial results from a laser dazzler counter-UAS test campaign conducted at Tekne S.p.A. facilities in Italy.

The campaign, performed by NUBURU Group and Tekne technical teams, is the material update in this release. It generated measured evidence supporting the integration of NUBURU's laser technology into Tekne tactical systems and future NUBURU Defense Italy mission packages under the NUBURU Defense Italian Plan, subject to required authorizations, product qualification, safety review, customer requirements and export-control constraints.

The objective of the campaign was to assess the effectiveness of NUBURU's laser dazzling technology against electro-optical drone sensors. Tekne engineers and technical specialists measured sensor saturation and optical disruption across multiple operational configurations, with the goal of translating the data into product architecture, configuration and test-roadmap decisions.

Initial Laser Dazzler Test Campaign and Technical Results

The trials were conducted in a controlled indoor environment simulating the engagement of a hostile unmanned aerial vehicle ("UAV"). In the tested configurations, NUBURU's dazzling technology achieved complete suppression of the drone's electro-optical sensors by overwhelming the optical source, effectively denying visual acquisition.

One of the most significant outcomes emerged during tactical approach simulations. In a scenario in which a hostile drone was tasked with detecting and tracking a designated neutralization operator, the operator successfully approached to within approximately 20 meters of the target without being detected. NUBURU believes this result supports the potential use of optical dazzling to help conceal personnel during close-range counter-UAS operations, potentially enabling other approved measures to neutralize a threat.

The test campaign included two different drone platforms, confirming versatility across multiple UAV configurations. Trials were performed using both continuous-wave and pulsed laser operation at irradiance levels ranging from 0.1 mW/cm² to 0.5 mW/cm², fully compliant with applicable optical safety regulations. Additional comparative evaluations were conducted at irradiance levels up to five times higher than regulatory exposure limits solely to characterize system performance. In all configurations tested, the dazzling effect remained consistently effective.

Testing was carried out inside a Tekne facility over a maximum range of approximately 100 meters, corresponding to the physical limitations of the indoor test environment. Based on laser beam-propagation physics, NUBURU believes the experimental data can support modeling and extrapolation for operational engagement distances measured in kilometers, with product-configuration work initially focused on scenarios beginning at approximately one kilometer and extending beyond that range, subject to further testing and validation.

Building on the data collected during the Tekne test campaign, NUBURU's product-development roadmap now includes next-generation integrated dazzler systems combining green, blue and infrared ("IR") laser sources within a single device architecture. These non-kinetic counter-UAS solutions are intended to provide day- and night-time protection across land, maritime and fixed-site operational environments where authorized.

Counter-UAS Market Context and NUBURU TAM/SAM/SOM Framework

NUBURU believes the test results are commercially relevant because counter-UAS demand is expanding rapidly and customers are increasingly seeking layered, integrated architectures. Third-party estimates frame the global anti-drone / counter-UAS market at approximately USD 4.48 billion in 2025 and USD 14.51 billion by 2030 under one definition, and at approximately USD 14.41 billion in 2026 and USD 55.25 billion by 2034 under a broader counter-UAS definition. Grand View Research / Horizon estimates the laser-system anti-drone segment at approximately USD 1.46 billion in 2024 and USD 12.77 billion by 2033, implying an approximately 27% CAGR over 2024-2033.

For product framing only, NUBURU views TAM as the broader anti-drone / counter-UAS market; SAM as the laser-system, optical-defense and directed-energy counter-UAS mission-package segment; and SOM as the initial NUBURU / Tekne opportunity that may be addressable through authorized demonstrations, vehicle and fixed-site integrations, and mission-package sales. This framework does not represent revenue guidance, backlog, contracted demand or a forecast of Company results.

Competition includes RF jamming, protocol-takeover systems, high-power microwave, hard-kill interceptors, high-energy laser programs and command-and-control platforms. NUBURU intends to position its optical-defense roadmap as a complementary non-kinetic sensor-denial layer integrated with Tekne mobility / EW-CEMA capabilities.

Joint Engineering and Product Roadmap

To accelerate execution following the initial test campaign, NUBURU and Tekne have established a dedicated engineering and product-development workstream responsible for coordinating technology integration, product architecture and future validation programs. The workstream will initially focus on:

• Portable, fixed-site, tower-mounted, maritime and vehicle-mounted optical-defense mission packages;
• Mechanical, electrical, power, thermal, optical-safety and environmental integration of laser modules into Tekne platforms;
• Integrated green, blue and IR optical-source architecture, including safety interlocks, control logic, configuration baselines and test methods.
• Opportunity to leverage the industrial partnership with SunCubes, subject to applicable approvals and definitive project scope, to evaluate beam-direction, tracking, power-beaming and optical-communications capabilities as complementary layers for future optical-defense mission packages.

Golden Power Process and Binding Tekne SPA

As previously announced, on May 26, 2026, NUBURU, NUBURU Defense LLC, Tekne and Tekne's historical shareholders signed a binding Share Purchase and Investment Agreement establishing the contractual path for NUBURU Defense, potentially through an Italian acquisition vehicle, to acquire 70% of Tekne. The transaction is the subject of Golden Power procedure following the June 5, 2026 notification to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and remains subject to Golden Power authorization and other closing conditions.

Consistent with the Golden Power filings, at notification NUBURU had provided EUR 17.692 million of shareholder financing to Tekne. Additionally, NUBURU made EUR 1.1 million of additional interim funding in June 2026; absent further interim funding before closing, this reduces the cash component of the capital increase from EUR 12.0 million to EUR 10.9 million and the cash need at closing to EUR 16.2 million, including EUR 5.2 million share-purchase consideration. Upon closing, NUBURU Defense is expected to hold 70% of Tekne. Until Golden Power authorization and closing are completed, NUBURU does not own 70% of Tekne.

NUBURU believes the test campaign reinforces the industrial rationale for the transaction: Tekne provides a fieldable Italian platform, manufacturing base and defense systems-integration capability for the commercialization of NUBURU optical-defense and software-defined defense mission packages, while preserving Italian industrial, IP, security and compliance safeguards under the Golden Power framework.

Management Commentary

Alessandro Zamboni, Executive Chairman & Co-CEO of NUBURU, commented:; "The material milestone is the test evidence. The Tekne campaign gives us measured data that supports both the technical viability and the market relevance of a governed optical-defense roadmap for counter-UAS applications. The Golden Power process continues, but the integration work is already informing product architecture, customer demonstration planning and the NUBURU Defense Italian Plan."

Dario Barisoni, Co-CEO of NUBURU and CEO of NUBURU Defense LLC, added: "Technically, the campaign confirmed sensor saturation and visual-acquisition denial across multiple UAV configurations under controlled conditions. The next step is engineering discipline: configuration optimization, safety review, range modeling, platform integration and repeatable qualification gates for day- and night-time optical-defense mission packages."