Swarmer to Acquire Vataga Drone IP and Integrate Engineering Team to Enhance Autonomous Drone Capabilities

Swarmer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWMR), a defense technology company specializing in drone autonomy software, announced it has signed an agreement to acquire certain intellectual property assets from Vataga Drone, a Ukrainian defense technology company known for producing first-person-view (FPV) and interceptor drones. The transaction, structured with cash and equity components, grants Swarmer rights to Vataga’s portfolio of hardware and software engineering intellectual property, including FPV airframe designs, initiation electronics, ground-control equipment, development tooling, and manufacturing documentation.

Following the closing of the transaction, Vataga’s CEO Maksym Melnyk and 14 members of the company’s hardware research and development team will join Swarmer. Melnyk will assume the role of Vice President of Hardware and report directly to Swarmer’s President and U.S. CEO, Alex Fink. Despite the integration of its IP and personnel, Vataga will continue to operate as an independent manufacturing entity.

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Kyiv with a second facility in Chernihiv, Vataga Drone has rapidly established itself as a key supplier to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Its VTG Spark initiation boards have been incorporated into over 100,000 Ukrainian drones, and its NATO-codified FPV-10 “Peacemaker” platform has been deployed by more than 20 Ukrainian military units. Vataga’s 13-inch FPV attack drones are actively engaged in combat operations in eastern Ukraine, utilizing Swarmer’s Fire Raid mission template. Additionally, Vataga’s Kvach interceptor drone has been instrumental in neutralizing Shahed-type UAV threats across Ukraine.

Alex Fink emphasized the strategic value of the acquisition, stating, “Bringing battle-tested hardware capabilities in-house means we can create reliable full-stack solutions. We welcome Maksym Melnyk and his talented team of engineers to Swarmer. Together, our top priority will be scaling the use of swarming-enabled FPV drones and interceptors in combat.”

Maksym Melnyk expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, noting, “We are excited to join Swarmer, whose success story has made them a recognized name in Ukraine’s defense technology sector. We are looking forward to combining our hardware design capabilities with Swarmer’s software capabilities to produce complete end-to-end solutions.”

Swarmer’s autonomy platform enables a single operator to control hundreds of autonomous unmanned systems in real time, supporting multi-domain swarm coordination and AI-powered distributed operations. Since its initial combat deployment in Ukraine in April 2024, Swarmer’s technology has supported over 100,000 combat missions, generating extensive operational data that enhances its machine-learning models and autonomy performance.

Swarmer maintains headquarters in Austin, Texas, with operational teams in Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia. The company’s software is vendor-agnostic, designed to integrate with diverse unmanned platforms to provide scalable autonomous swarm capabilities.

The press release includes customary forward-looking statements regarding the acquisition’s anticipated benefits, integration plans, and potential risks. These statements highlight uncertainties such as transaction timing, closing conditions, retention of key personnel, and operational challenges related to active conflict zones and geopolitical factors.

For more information on Vataga Drone, visit https://vtgdrone.com/. Additional details about Swarmer are available at www.swarmer.com.