4 minutes of readingPuneFebruary 10, 2026 04:00 pm IST
James Solomon, co-founder of Pune-based company Olee.space, begins with a question: “What would you do if you were commander of a post or any defense establishment and there was an attack by 100 swarms of enemy drones? Would you send your 100 best soldiers there or would you want a machine to come in and do the job?”
Solomon knows the answer, not only because it’s obvious but also because his company created it.
Olee.space, co-founded with Suman Hiremath, has built a directed energy weapon (DEW), an AI-powered laser sniper that will neutralize any incoming target with the push of a button. “That too, without sending kinetic weapons. This wouldn’t shoot bullets into the sky. This wouldn’t shoot missiles into the sky. It would be as quiet as possible,” Solomon says. The DEW was recently tested and the company has an order to deliver it.
“DEW has a zero cost per kill. A missile costs $150,000 to neutralize the same target. Drones were not seen as part of a threat five years ago, but they are now. It is a machine-to-machine war and India was not prepared. That is precisely the part where we have come in. We are working to secure our armed forces,” says Solomon.
Olee.space is a photonics and defense equipment company that harnesses the power of lasers. The company’s first product was FSOC-Laser Communications, which it said detected and resolved a vital chink in the defense armor. “All communications happen in two ways, through underground fiber optic cables that are one step away from being bombed, and through radio frequencies that are jammed. Your GPS is jammed, your radio frequencies are jammed. Everything is intercepted. You can’t send your secret messages,” says Solomon. The company’s laser device is the size of a laptop and can be carried in a backpack. “It is solar powered and is not intercepted, jammed or counterfeited,” he says.
85% indigenous content
Although Olee.space was born in 2023, working on laser technology has required several years of experience. “For us it has always been country first,” says Solomon.
The two teams, leaders in their segments, have 85 percent indigenous content, normally manufactured in Pune. “Our industrial needs are met by companies in Chacken or other parts of Pune. We don’t have to go out,” says Solomon.
Story continues below this ad.
The defense establishment has helped, from answering questions to conducting tests at Southern Command on occasion. Solomon says the company is working on a third product in a completely different sector. “This is, again, a very important segment and a product that has never been seen before on a commercial scale outside of R&D. We will launch it in about four months,” he says.
How is it possible for a company to release cutting-edge products every few months? “It takes four and a half to five years of pure R&D to get to a place where we have the money or investments, just as fuel, to turn the books into a real product. Work is underway for the next round. Any investors who may come forward should know this,” he says.
Click here join WhatsApp Express Pune Channel and get a curated list of our stories
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd