When you think of European defense tech hotspots, Croatia probably isn’t the first country that comes to mind—but maybe it should. Earlier this week, Orqa FPV announced that it has boosted its annual production capacity to 280,000 NDAA-compliant, Chinese-component-free FPV drones at its headquarters in Osijek, Croatia. That big bump, CEO Srdjan Kovacevic told Tectonic, […]
Well, the Europeans aren’t showing any signs of slowing down on the drone front. On Friday, German ISR UAS company (and STARK forefather) Quantum Systems announced that it has raised a €180M ($209M) Series C extension at a €3B ($3.49B) valuation, led by Balderton Capital. This comes on the heels of a €160M ($186M) raise […]
Turns out the leap across the pond goes both ways. This morning, UK-based USV company Kraken Technology Group announced that they’ve scored a coveted $49M cap OTA with United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop and prototype “novel uncrewed surface and subsurface vessel technologies to enhance maritime capabilities for U.S. special operations forces.” This […]
The great leap across the pond continues. Yesterday, US defense tech giant Shield AI announced that it’s partnering with European autonomous flight company Destinus to “integrate Hivemind, Shield AI’s mission autonomy software, across Destinus’ aerial platforms.” “Destinus is one of Europe’s most consequential defense technology companies,” Chris Brinkley, Head of European Business Development and Strategy […]
Remember when we said that everyone loves a little baby tank? Well, ARX Robotics is back to prove our point. Yesterday, the German unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) company announced that it’s secured a “significant major order” from Ukraine—financed by the German government—for its Gereon UGVs. ARX UK CEO David Roberts told Tectonic that with the […]
Again, we’re not saying that money moves are happening across Europe because of the Tectonic European Defense Summit…but the signs are there. This morning, Ukraine signed what Emmanuel Macron called a “historic” letter of intent with the French government to buy 100 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets, along with eight SAMP/T air defense systems and Aster-30 […]
It would appear the great startup-prime defense tech partnership fever has spread across the pond. On Thursday, Estonian counter-drone interceptor startup Frankenburg Technologies announced that its teaming up with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (Polish Armaments Group, or PGZ)—the holding company for Poland’s state-owned defense companies— to integrate and produce interceptors, with plans to build up to […]
Well, it’s been quite the week for the German defense tech scene. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that the country plans to award a whopping €900M contract for kamikaze drones to three homegrown producers: STARK, Helsing, and Rheinmetall. Under the contract, according to the FT, each producer would supply the German military with about 12,000 […]
The era of France’s main exports being wine and cheese may be coming to an end, at least if Alta Ares has anything to do with it. On Thursday, the French counter-drone software company, in partnership with an undisclosed Ukrainian startup, announced it had kicked off mass production of its X-Wing interceptor drones for Ukrainian […]
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Germany has done a pretty sharp U-turn on the whole “we’re pacifists” thing it’s had going since the end of WWII. In the past few months, the country has placed some big-time defense orders, passed a bill introducing voluntary military service and potentially conscription, exempted defense spending […]
