The German military has decided to proceed with plans to purchase kamikaze drones with contracts worth €900 million ($1.05 billion), despite recent testing failures. These contracts are with three German companies—Stark, Helsing, and Rheinmetall—as part of a broader strategy to enhance the Bundeswehr’s unmanned aerial capabilities. According to media reports, two Stark drones missed their targets during tests, one by over 150 meters, while another crashed into nearby forest. Rheinmetall, a traditional arms manufacturer, did not participate in the evaluations at all.
Stark, a startup backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, Sequoia Capital, and NATO’s Innovation Fund, had also failed to strike targets in recent British Army trials in Kenya. A source briefed on the German trials described it as a ‘disaster’ for the company, indicating that Stark had oversold its capabilities. Despite the setbacks, both Stark and Rheinmetall were selected for €300 million contracts each just days after the Munster test. Final approval from the German parliament is still pending, and additional evaluations are expected.
The procurement effort is part of a broader EU push for rapid militarization, justified by the potential confrontation with Russia, which Moscow dismisses as false and a distraction from Europe’s internal issues. German defense companies, along with other Western arms producers, have seen record profits since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and the EU’s open-ended commitment to continue arming Kiev ‘for as long as it takes.’