Ramp-up of production of the unmanned ground system Gereon at the DEUTZ plant in Ulm
First systems are scheduled to be delivered to Ukraine from late summer onward
Cologne/Munich, July 7, 2026 – DEUTZ AG is launching industrial series production of the GEREON, an unmanned ground system for deployment on the battlefield, as part of a strategic partnership with ARX Robotics. ARX Robotics, based in Munich, is a leading European defense-tech company that is developing a new generation of unmanned, software-defined ground defense systems. As early as October 2025, the two companies had signed a corresponding strategic partnership.
“Alongside technological know-how in the powertrain market, industrial scaling potential is a key strength of DEUTZ,” says Marco Herre, CEO of the Business Unit Defense at DEUTZ. “To deliver the Gereon to Ukraine, we are ramping up production at our Ulm plant. In this way, the strategic partnership with ARX Robotics is creating a substantial contribution to strengthening European defense policy through support for Ukraine.”
Production is scheduled to start in a few weeks, with the first systems from the Ulm facility to be delivered to Ukraine as early as late summer.
Marc Wietfeld, co-founder and CEO of ARX Robotics, adds: “The war in Ukraine shows that Europe’s defense capability depends not only on innovation, but also on industrial scaling. ARX Robotics and DEUTZ are building the bridge between military innovation and industrial mass scaling. Together, we are accelerating the development of these capabilities.”
In addition to rapid industrial scaling, the strategic partnership aims to deploy DEUTZ’s leading drive systems in ARX Robotics’ unmanned ground systems. These include battery-electric drives and, in the future, smaller combustion or hybrid drives. To this end, the two companies will develop an interface that connects ARX’s AI-driven software platform Mithra OS with DEUTZ drives.
Furthermore, DEUTZ will provide energy infrastructure in the field through its Business Units Energy and NewTech. This includes power generators and storage solutions as well as replaceable batteries. ARX Robotics will also be able to access DEUTZ’s global production and service network, significantly increasing the scalability and serviceability of the solutions. This allows even large orders to be processed quickly.
With its Business Unit Defense, DEUTZ is strategically tapping into the defense market. In addition to supplying combustion engines for military applications, acquisitions and partnerships – particularly in the field of military drones, autonomous military vehicles, and decentralized power generation – are among the company’s key activities.
