ARX Robotics Expands Into Poland, Moving Closer to NATO’s Eastern Flank
Set Trending Topics as a preferred source on Google.
The Munich defence tech company is setting up a Polish entity to move nearer to the country’s armed forces. A second subsidiary in Innsbruck handles local business processes in Austria.
European defence tech company ARX Robotics is expanding its footprint on NATO’s eastern flank. At the MSPO international defence exhibition in Kielce, Poland, the Munich-based company has just announced its expansion into the Polish market. As a first step it has registered a Polish entity, to be followed by a permanent headquarters and dedicated facilities for training, maintenance and technical support for operational forces.
According to the company, the move involves investments in the double-digit millions and the creation of highly skilled jobs by the end of the decade. The goal is to become part of Poland’s defence industrial base: working alongside the armed forces, the government and local industry partners, ARX Robotics plans to explore options for deployment, production and long-term operational support of autonomous ground systems.
Three of Europe’s Five Largest Defence Markets
Poland is the company’s fourth market. With the expansion, ARX Robotics says it will be actively present in three of the five largest European defence markets, on top of its presence in Ukraine. The backdrop is growing Russian aggression and hybrid activity across Europe, along with the rapid build-up of Poland’s armed forces and national defence industry, which has turned the country into one of the continent’s most important procurement markets.
“Poland stands at the forefront of European security and shows the resolve, the speed and the industrial ambition that Europe needs right now,” says Marc Wietfeld, CEO and co-founder of ARX Robotics. “We want to build capability here for the long term, support the Polish armed forces and become part of the Polish defence industrial base.”
The approach follows the model the company has established in Ukraine, where ARX Robotics works directly with military users, provides training, maintenance and repair, and adapts its systems continuously based on operational feedback. “Our experience in Ukraine has shown how fast modern warfare evolves,” Wietfeld says, adding that the company intends to share those insights with Polish forces and NATO troops along the eastern flank.
An Innsbruck Entity for Local Business Processes
Considerably less weight attaches to a second organisational step taken recently: the founding of ARX Robotics Austria, based in Innsbruck. The entity serves to handle local business and administrative processes in Austria. No production sites, investment commitments or hiring plans have been announced in connection with the Austrian subsidiary.
An Austrian connection already exists on the investor side. Vienna-based fund Speedinvest came in last year as lead investor with a further eleven million euros, bringing the startup’s Series A to a total of 42 million euros. Before that, ARX Robotics raised 31 million euros in a round led by HV Capital, with the NATO Innovation Fund and Project A also on board.
The Largest Networked Western UGV Fleet in Ukraine
Founded in 2021, ARX Robotics develops software-defined unmanned ground systems for European and allied armed forces. Its GEREON family of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is deployed in large numbers in Ukraine and, according to the company, forms the largest networked UGV fleet operated by a Western manufacturer in the country. The company also digitises existing platforms with Mithra OS, its AI-powered operating system.
Use cases range from reconnaissance and logistics to casualty evacuation, tasks where unmanned platforms can reduce the risk to soldiers while increasing the available mass of systems. ARX Robotics currently employs around 300 people across sites in Munich, Berlin, London and Kyiv.
