Drone startup Stark clarifies reports on UK and German army trials

Berlin-based defence startup Stark has commented on reports by Financial Times about unsuccessful trials of its Virtus loitering munition during joint exercises with the British and German armed forces.

In conversation with Militarnyi.com, a company spokesperson explained that the exercises in Kenya and Germany were experimental, and claims made in the recent report lacked an understanding of development of defence tech. The source also said that more than a dozen missions were successfully flown in Kenya.

“The system deployed in Ukraine is based on a different concept of operation — it uses a reconnaissance drone for targeting and a separate munition for strike. The German and British versions are being adapted to their operational needs as part of normal iteration,” the source explained.

The same source added that the information leak did not originate from the company.

According to people familiar with the matter, the trials will not affect any existing contracts.

In an official statement, Stark said its philosophy relies on “disciplined experimentation and rapid iteration”.

“We founded Stark to meet an urgent operational demand for new capabilities. Progress comes from testing often, learning quickly and always pushing boundaries.”

Earlier, Financial Times reported that Stark’s Virtus drones “failed to hit a single target” during Haraka Storm, a British Army training exercise in Kenya, with “drone’s battery catching fire upon impact”, as reported by Financial Times. Similar results were allegedly observed in Germany.

Meanwhile, Resilience Media cited more than a dozen people involved in the exercise who said that such failures are “a normal part of the iteration process” and that “if you’re not failing, you’re not testing hard enough.”

Stark’s investors include Sequoia Capital, NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, and Thiel Capital. The company operates in Germany, the UK, and Ukraine, where its systems are deployed on the front line.