Ground Drones for Ukraine: ARX Robotics Deepens Alliance With Roboneers

ARX Robotics is tightening its partnership with Ukrainian manufacturer Roboneers as ground robots take on a bigger role in Ukraine’s war. The Munich-based company signed the agreement in Kyiv, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Volodymyr Zelensky present. This isn’t just a handshake for optics. The two firms say they will technically integrate their systems and keep supplying the Ukrainian armed forces with unmanned ground vehicles.

They are already doing some of that work together. In June, ARX and Roboneers set up ARX Industries, a production joint venture meant to mass-produce Roboneers’ Rys Pro ground drone in Ukraine and Germany. The target is ambitious: several thousand vehicles in the first year, then tens of thousands annually after that. These machines are meant for jobs soldiers would rather not do themselves — evacuating the wounded, carrying supplies forward, and clearing mines.

Marc Wietfeld, ARX’s chief executive, framed the deal as a battlefield necessity. He called software-defined unmanned defense systems crucial for land forces in a setting where the enemy can watch nearly every move. The company also wants the front-line feedback from Ukraine to shape systems for Western armies later. That’s the real prize here: not just selling hardware, but turning a war into a live test bed.

The demand is clearly there. Ukraine’s government says it needs about 50,000 unmanned ground systems this year. ARX says its own Gereon drone already gives it the largest fleet of any Western manufacturer in Ukraine, and that it has shown with partners such as engine maker Deutz that production can be scaled quickly. Founded in 2022, ARX now has about 300 employees across Munich, Berlin, London and Kyiv, and it has recently expanded into Poland and Austria.