Vidar Systems

Vidar Systems is a Ukrainian defence-tech startup, founded in 2023 and based in Kyiv, that builds passive acoustic sensors to locate enemy guns by the sound they make. Its system, the Acoustic Weapon Locating System (AWLS), strings several microphone units across a stretch of front; each unit hears the same shot slightly differently, and the software overlays the direction reported by each sensor so that the point where the bearings intersect marks the firing position. The company says the system can fix the coordinates of artillery at a depth of up to roughly 25 kilometres, and that its machine-learning audio model can pick the report of a howitzer, mortar, tank or grenade launcher out of background noise, supporting counter-battery fire against Russian positions.

The appeal Vidar pitches is the same one driving much of the acoustic-sensing field in Ukraine: a microphone array emits nothing, so unlike radar-based counter-battery reconnaissance it cannot itself be located and struck. According to its developers a single five-sensor complex covers about a 10-kilometre section of the line, the equipment set weighs around 25 kilograms, and a kit can be put into action by one or two people. Ukrainian reporting says pre-production batches are already deployed at the front, and that the firm builds its systems largely from commercial off-the-shelf components to keep them cheap and quick to replace.

Vidar grew out of a volunteer effort and is led by co-founder and chief executive Denys Sobchyshak. In late 2024 it won a prize at the IT Arena startup competition in Lviv and raised about $450,000, led by the Czech fund Presto Ventures through its Presto Tech Horizons vehicle alongside angel investors — placing it among the small Ukrainian firms turning sensor and AI work into fielded battlefield tools. The detection ranges, weights and coverage figures cited here are the company’s own claims as relayed by Ukrainian defence press.

Note that the name “Vidar” is also used for an unrelated Swedish self-propelled artillery system; this entry concerns the Ukrainian acoustic-sensor company of the same name.