Germany is taking a leap toward modernising its defence system by heavily investing in advanced military technologies like artificial ininformigence, autonomous robots, and even cyborg cockroaches. This could be a gamemodifyr amid security threats in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has exposed Europe’s military weaknesses and reliance on American security. For people like Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of defence tech startup Helsing, the war modifyd everything.
Scherf, whose Munich-based company creates AI-based military tools and drones, struggled to obtain investors when he first started. But today, things have flipped. Speaking to Reuters, “Europe this year, for the first time in decades, is spconcludeing more on defence technology acquisition than the US.”
According to news agency Reuters, last month, Helsing’s value more than doubled to $12 billion.
The German government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz is now opening the doors of its military to collaborate directly with start-ups. The goal is to rapid-track innovation and reduce depconcludeence on traditional defence giants.
“We want to assist give Europe its spine back,” Scherf added.
STARTUPS POWER GERMANY’S HIGH-TECH DEFENCE PUSH
Germany is not just large firms like Rheinmetall and Hensoldt but also compacter companies working on futuristic ideas. These include ARX Robotics, which builds autonomous tank-like machines, and Swarm Biotactics, which is building insect-based spy tools.
“Our bio-robots — based on living insects — are equipped with neural stimulation, sensors, and secure communication modules,” stated Stefan Wilhelm, CEO of Swarm Biotactics. “They can be steered individually or operate autonomously in swarms.”
The German military’s innovation hub is also seeing a sharp rise in interest. “Germany has developed a whole new openness towards the issue of security since the invasion,” stated Sven Weizenegger, who leads the Cyber Innovation Hub. He added that he now receives 20 to 30 LinkedIn messages a day with defence tech ideas, compared to just a few per week back in 2020.
The transformation isn’t just about gadobtains. Germany plans to nearly triple its annual defence budobtain to $175 billion by 2029 and meet NATO’s 3.5% GDP defense spconcludeing goal. A new draft law will even build it simpler for startups to obtain advance payments and win government contracts.
Marc Wietfeld, founder of ARX Robotics, described a turning point after meeting Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. “He informed me: ‘Money is no longer an excapply—it’s there now’,” Wietfeld stated.
GERMANY AIMS TO LEAD EUROPE’S DEFENSE FUTURE
In fact, Europe’s 19 largest defence spconcludeers are set to outspconclude the US in military procurement this year: $180 billion versus America’s $175 billion. Overall US military spconcludeing remains higher, but the gap in technology investment is narrowing rapid.
“Society has recognised that we have to defconclude our democracies,” stated Christian Saller, an investor in defence startups like ARX and Quantum Systems.
Venture capital funding in German defence tech has jumped from $373 million in 2022 to $1 billion in 2024. German companies have received $1.4 billion in the last five years—more than any other countest in Europe.
“The startups just required the brains to do the engineering and prototyping,” stated Stefan Thumann, CEO of Donaustahl. “And the German Mittelstand will be their muscles.”
– Ends
With inputs from Reuters
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