The first: the next decade of conflict will be fought across a contested electromagnetic
spectrum, against emitters that move, hop frequencies, and transmit in bursts. Locating
those emitters fast and accurately is a precondition for nearly every kinetic and
non-kinetic effect that follows.
The second: the United States is moving sensing capacity off large, expensive,
traditional systems and onto distributed autonomous platforms built in the thousands.
Low-cost autonomous platforms are now where capability is supposed to live.
The gap was obvious. The platforms were ready. The sensing payloads they needed weren't.
Conventional passive geolocation depends on pre-planned orbits, GPS-anchored timing, and
emitters that sit still long enough to be triangulated. None of those assumptions held.
What Wyvern does about it
Wyvern was founded in 2025 to close the gap. WYVERN‑1 is a passive,
AI-driven RF sensing package built to ride the platforms the military is fielding now.
Two patented methods let the array adapt in real time to whatever the emitter does. The
system is GPS-independent by design. It listens, never illuminates, and works in
environments where traditional systems can't operate.
Why this team
Wyvern is built by an operator and a scientist.
Mike Thompson has spent thirty-five years across telecom, wireless, and
security. He began his career at Bell Canada in switching, data, and
systems engineering, the foundations of modern wireless infrastructure. He moved to
Nortel Networks as Global Practice Leader, scaling
wireless and security solutions across dozens of countries. He went on to found
ICSynergy International and led it through acquisition by a top-five
global private equity firm. He drove global M&A at iC Consult Group
as it became the world's leading pure-play IAM consultancy. He is founding Managing
Partner of QuantaCyber and tri-chairs the Tech Titans Quantum
Cybersecurity Forum. He knows the spectrum, knows the systems, and knows how to put
real capability into real customers' hands.
Dr. Mitch Thornton holds the Cecil H. Green Chair of Engineering at
Southern Methodist University, runs the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, and
directs SMU's Master's program in Quantum Engineering, one of the first such programs in
the country. He authored the patents that drive WYVERN‑1. The math is his.
Defense sensing fails most often at the seam between lab and field. Wyvern has both ends
of that seam in the same room.
Why this, why now
Two technical shifts converged in the last few years and made WYVERN‑1 possible.
Onboard compute is finally tractable enough to run sophisticated machine-learning policies
at the edge in real time. The methods behind cooperative passive geolocation have matured
to the point where the analytical work, the AI infrastructure, and the hardware can be
packaged into a single fielded payload.
What changed is that the platforms exist now too. Five years ago, building a sensing
package optimized for low-cost autonomous platforms would have been a science project
looking for a customer. Today the customer is in front of us, the doctrine is being
written, and the contracts are being awarded.
Wyvern exists because that window doesn't stay open forever.
What we're building
WYVERN‑1 is the first system. It will not be the last. The architecture is designed
to scale across host platforms, mission profiles, and follow-on sensors. The roadmap
extends into a quantum sensing front-end in the coming generation. The longer-term goal
is a sensing layer the U.S. military and its allies can rely on, whatever the platform,
whatever the spectrum, whatever the fight.
