German defence technology company ARX Robotics and Ukrainian firm Roboneers have agreed a wider partnership covering unmanned ground systems, including technical integration and joint development work for Ukrainian and other European forces, according to ARX Robotics.
The agreement was signed in Kyiv during a German state visit to Ukraine, in the presence of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Under the partnership, the two companies plan to deepen the integration of their respective unmanned systems and continue joint development work around ground robotics for military use. Both companies are already supplying uncrewed ground vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The latest agreement follows an earlier deal reached in June 2026 to establish ARX Industries, a production joint venture intended to manufacture the Rys Pro unmanned ground vehicle in Ukraine and Germany.
The Rys Pro is developed by Roboneers, which produces a range of Ukrainian unmanned ground and aerial systems alongside software and remote weapon technologies. The company says its platforms are used for roles including frontline logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance and combat support.
ARX Robotics, meanwhile, develops its Gereon family of unmanned ground vehicles and the Mithra OS software platform, which is designed to provide autonomous and digital functions across military land systems.
According to a news update from ARX Robotics, company chief executive Marc Wietfeld said: “Software-defined unmanned defense solutions are key for landforces on a modern battlefield where every action can be seen by the enemy. Together with Roboneers we provide the Ukrainian forces with a robust but smart UGV fleet at scale and at the same time ensure that the lessons learnt from the battlefield are incorporated into the landsystems development of other western armies.”
The companies are positioning the partnership around both immediate Ukrainian requirements and the wider development of autonomous land systems for European armed forces. ARX said feedback from systems operating in Ukraine would be incorporated into future land-platform development, allowing lessons from frontline use to influence software, vehicle design and operating concepts elsewhere.
The Ukrainian government estimates that national demand for unmanned ground systems could reach 50,000 units during 2026, according to the company.
ARX also states that its Gereon vehicles currently represent the largest fleet of Western-built unmanned ground systems operating in Ukraine. The use of UGVs has expanded during the war as Ukrainian forces have increasingly used unmanned platforms to move supplies, evacuate casualties, conduct reconnaissance and support combat activity while reducing the need to expose personnel to direct fire.
For manufacturers, the scale and pace of operations in Ukraine has also created demand for systems that can be produced in quantity, repaired quickly and adapted through software or modular payloads as battlefield requirements change. ARX has been expanding its industrial capacity alongside the operational partnership. The company has recently worked with German industrial firms including Deutz as it seeks to increase production of unmanned ground vehicles. The Roboneers partnership adds a Ukrainian manufacturing and development component to that effort through the previously announced ARX Industries joint venture.
Roboneers says its Rys Pro UGV and Saber remote weapon station have been deployed across units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with its systems collectively used during more than 15,000 frontline missions since 2014. ARX Robotics was founded in 2022 and currently employs around 300 people across Munich, Berlin, London and Kyiv. Its work is centred on autonomous ground platforms and software intended to add digital and autonomous functions to both new and existing military vehicles.
Roboneers describes its own approach as a multi-domain robotic ecosystem spanning unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned aerial systems and associated software, with development and manufacturing conducted in Ukraine. The latest agreement expands an existing relationship between the two companies from production of individual systems towards closer technical integration, joint development and a broader approach to unmanned land warfare.
