Ratel Robotics makes uncrewed ground vehicles for Ukrainian defense. Credit: Viktor Kharyton, Swarmer
Ukrainian companies have demonstrated their ability to develop and field autonomous systems at a fraction of the price of Western defense contractors, according to Swarmer Inc. The company today said it has signed an agreement to acquire Ratel Robotics, a leading manufacturer of uncrewed ground vehicles or UGVs.
“Ratel is a major provider of UGVs for Ukraine,” stated Alex Fink, co-founder, president, and U.S. CEO of Swarmer. “Combining a battle-tested launch platform with our combat-proven autonomy software is the key to creating versatile, interoperable solutions. We are excited to have [CEO] Taras Ostapchuk and his team at Ratel Robotics be the first to join Swarmer and grow our business in Ukraine and beyond.”
Founded in 2023, Swarmer said it specializes in vendor-agnostic software that allows one operator to control hundreds of autonomous platforms in real time. The Austin, Texas-based company‘s primary mission areas include autonomous swarm coordination, integration of multi-domain unmanned systems, and AI-powered autonomy software for distributed operations.
Swarmer said its intelligence layer enables large numbers of low-cost drones and robots to operate as a coherent, resilient force. The company claimed that its technology has been validated in real battlefields, with first deployments in combat operations in Ukraine in April 2024.
Since then, Swarmer said it has completed more than 100,000 combat missions, generating terabytes of proprietary data to refine its machine-learning models and enable the replication of advanced pilot performance at scale. The company maintains operations and teams in Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia.
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“Having served in the armed forces of Ukraine, I understand firsthand the risks soldiers face on the battlefield,” said Ostapchuk. “That experience inspired me to create robotic systems capable of taking on the most dangerous missions and protecting human lives.
Ratel Robotics has developed systems to support Ukrainian Defense Forces since 2023. The Kyiv, Ukraine-based company‘s UGVs perform battlefield logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, de-mining, strike, and drone-launch missions.
Ratel is also developing an integrated autonomy ecosystem, including two uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) variants, mobile workshops, and solar-powered trailers.
“Together with Swarmer, we plan to combine ground capabilities and aerial capabilities with increasing levels of autonomy,” said Ostapchuk. “This is the next stage in the evolution of modern warfare – putting fewer people in harm’s way and having more unmanned assets take on the risk.”
The company noted that it is working with international partners. It said that every serial Ratel H and Ratel M model it produces carries a NATO stock number under the NCAGE Code A3X8J as well as an AQAP 2110 certificate, the NATO standard for quality assurance throughout design, development, and production.
Ratel has secured contracts totaling $86 million this year, and it is in discussions with multiple NATO nations under the “Build With Ukraine” initiative.
The company’s products account for about 37% of the entire 11 billion UAH ($246.85 million U.S.) spent by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Procurement Agency on UGVs from Jan. 1 to April 18, 2026. Those contracts will be unaffected by the acquisition, said Fink.
“They’re almost unique in the space because they have no salespeople, no government relations, no lobbying,” he noted about Ratel Robotics. “All of their sales are essentially driven by the combat units wanting their products because they are secure.”
Fink said during a press call that Swarmer was interested in Ratel because it could use UGVs to launch drones, interceptors, and swarm defense systems.
“We think that this unlocks the ability to run much larger swarmers in much larger quantities,” he asserted. “Our software already supports up to 690 drones per swarm. This allows the units to set them up fast enough to be able to launch this many as well.”
Swarmer is building a platform for battle-tested products
“In my recent letter to shareholders, I stated our objective to build a platform company for products that have been tested on the battlefield and proven effective under the most demanding operational conditions,” said Erik Prince, Swarmer’s chairman of the board. “Ratel precisely fits that mission. I believe Swarmer can accelerate its capabilities, scale its reach and integrate it with other proven technologies.”
The acquisition will include a mix of cash and stock worth up to $224 million if all earnout milestones are met, said Swarmer. Closing remains subject to customary conditions and any required legal, regulatory, and shareholder approvals.
Ratel Robotics said it expects its more than 300 employees to join Swarmer upon closing, bringing the total company’s size to nearly 500 people. Ostapchuk will continue in his role as CEO of Ratel Robotics as a wholly owned subsidiary and will report directly to Fink.
“We are potentially a vehicle for companies that have great technology to immediately pair that with a marketing machine, sales teams on three different continents, a compliance apparatus, and a way to raise more funds,” said Fink. “Because in many cases, when you grow as fast as these companies are growing, then you need working capital to actually be able to buy the parts ahead of manufacturing. And we have access to the U.S. capital markets. So as long as the orders are coming, we can help accelerate the growth for companies like this.”
The acquisition would also result in a diversified supply chain beyond Ukraine, added Prince, who acknowledged that Swarmer is looking for other defensive and offensive acquisitions.
“Ukrainians have figured out how to wage war at an innovative, low-cost way, vastly superior to what the Western defense cartel has been able to do,” said Prince. “The job is to convert that knowledge and that cost-effectiveness into a sustainable, profitable, war-winning enterprise.”
A year ago, the Ukrainian parent of Swarmer itself raised $15 million in Series A funding led by U.S. investors.
Other noteworthy defense robotics investments this year include Saronic’s $1.75 billion Series D, Hadrian’s $1.37 billion, Mach Industries‘ $600 million, and Shield AI’s $500 million. Crunchbase estimated that $14.6 billion had been invested military, national security, and law enforcement companies as of June 2, compared with $9.6 billion in all of 2025.
“Every company in the space that I know of has grown more than 5x this year,” said Fink. He told The Robot Report that Swarmer cannot make plans to integrate drone swarms and Ratel’s UGV technologies until the deal has been approved.
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