Tested in Ukraine: UK Opens Plant to Produce Virtus Drones

German startup Stark Defense has opened a new plant for the production of Virtus attack drones in the British city of Swindon.

This is the company’s first production location outside of Germany, hartpunkt reports.

At the same time, Stark announced a partnership with the British engineering firm GreenJets. The goal of the cooperation is to integrate GreenJets’ advanced launch systems and engines into a new generation of unmanned vehicles that the companies plan to develop together.

The new 3,700 m² plant has already created more than 50 jobs in software, electronics, manufacturing, aviation operations, and aerospace engineering. In the future, the number of employees will exceed 100, Stark Defense said.

In addition to Virtus production, Swindon plans to assemble other models of attack drones.

In August, the Ukrainian Defense Forces used a Virtus loitering munition in Zaporizhzhia. This strike was the debut combat use of the drone.

According to Stark Defense, the Virtus has a cruising speed of 120 km/h, and can accelerate to 250 km/h during dives. The drone is capable of hitting both static and moving targets. The battery life is up to one hour.