Eurosatory 2026: MARSS and parent company EOS expand air defence capability

MARSS (Marine And Remote Sensing Solutions) has a substantial presence in the Middle East with contracts in place to provide air defence protection for fixed sites including bases and critical infrastructure, many of which have been under attack or threat since February.

With attacks on Gulf nations by Iran in response to munitions fired and dropped by the US and Israel, the MARSS NiDAR C2 systems have been put to the test. The company claims “not a single threat has penetrated” its defence systems particularly, particularly in relation to critical infrastructure.

NiDAR Nation Shield is an expansion of the original capability to a strategic level. It is designed to be operated as a 360° C2 system, allowing high-level oversight of all strategic sites from within a single room, powered with AI-enhanced threat detection, identification and prioritisation.

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According to the company, the capability’s success – particularly in the counter-uncrewed aerial system (CUAS) role – was a key factor in a US$115 million contract signed in May 2026 with a Gulf Cooperation Council customer to significantly expand the capability of its existing NiDAR systems.

Speaking to Shephard at Eurosatory 2026, the official said: “The contract award actually moved [the protection] from critical infrastructure protection to a nationwide system.

“It is the direct result of the successful operation we have provided during the conflict [and] within two weeks a contract was placed to put it together because it worked so well. We will have more news in the weeks coming from other existing customers.”

It was also announced at the exhibition that MARSS has been selected by BAE Systems to provide NiDAR as the C2 solution for BAE Systems’ Anti Threat System (BATS) CUAS capability which will integrate the UK company’s suite of sensors and effectors.

MARSS is a subsidiary of Australian company Electro Optic Systems (EOS) Defence Systems. EOS has heritage in the CUAS role, including with remote weapon stations and its Apollo air defence laser, as well as ongoing work with Atlas laser defence against satellites.

Lasers enter the fight

The first effort of Atlas, according to a company official, was to “develop fixed-site systems from the ground up...telescopes and laser systems which are capable of denying surveillance ground activity”.

This was further developed to be mobile as well as fixed and, according to the official, these are “entering entry field and demonstration and the mobile system is the finished product”.

The official also noted: “We’ve developed aircraft safety systems [when operating the laser], so we know where all the aircraft are and track their emissions so we know where they are even if they’re not emitting via transponder.”

As well as soft effectors to disrupt satellites, such as dazzling, the company is also developing kinetic capability and methods to be able to push satellites to adjust their trajectory to prevent collisions.

Also on the laser front, EOS has developed the Apollo high-energy laser weapon which is designed to be vehicle-mounted, mobile or static and scalable from 50-150kW to act as a CUAS system. In 2025 EOS signed a $83.5 million contract with the Netherlands for Apollo which includes delivery, training, spare parts and long-term support between 2025 and 2028.

An EOS official on the Apollo programme told Shephard: “When countries buy a laser weapon system, they are actually buying two things: one is a system that shoots drones; the second is they want to industrialise in country and we are able to support that.

“We wouldn’t name [customers] but we’re in discussions with Middle Eastern countries to localise production [particularly since it is free from International Traffic in Arms Regulations].”

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