Ondas plans significant U.S. manufacturing expansion to scale low-cost ULTRA ISR aircraft production, targeting 10 aircraft per month by 2028

Ondas Inc., a leading provider of advanced autonomous systems and next-generation defence and security technologies, announced today plans to expand production of ULTRA, its long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, including in the United States, targeting 10 aircraft per month by 2028. To support this expansion, Ondas has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Stemme GmbH, ULTRA's airframe manufacturer, in an all-cash transaction. The planned acquisition would strengthen Ondas' manufacturing capacity and supply chain to meet growing U.S. and allied demand for affordable, persistent ISR, with additional dual-use opportunities.

Ondas' long-endurance ISR platform ULTRA is operationally deployed by the U.S. Air Force and is capable of more than 70 hours of flight time with over 400 pounds of payload capacity. Built on Stemme's type-certified S12 composite airframe, the military-hardened, uncrewed platform uses its commercial aviation foundation to provide a lower-cost option for persistent ISR. Its endurance supports extended time on station and limits the frequency of aircraft rotations, while its modular payload architecture supports electro-optical and infrared sensing, radio-frequency collection and communications relay. These capabilities also support dual-use opportunities in border and maritime surveillance, disaster response, environmental monitoring and commercial infrastructure inspection, where sustained coverage across wide areas at a manageable operating cost is an operational requirement.

Demand for persistent ISR continues to outpace available capacity as combatant commands seek wider-area coverage, increased time on station and greater resilience in contested and distributed operating environments. In response, the U.S. Department of War is advancing a mixed-fleet approach that combines high-end crewed assets with autonomous and uncrewed platforms, networked sensors and lower-cost, attritable aircraft that can be fielded at scale. These initiatives prioritize affordable mass, modularity and rapid production, reinforcing the need for systems such as ULTRA that can augment scarce high-value platforms, expand operational coverage and deliver persistent ISR without the cost and risk associated with traditional aircraft.

Ondas has developed a plan to significantly expand ULTRA production capacity to meet urgent global demand for ISR capabilities. The proposed acquisition of Stemme is central to this strategy and would support the onshoring and localisation of airframe production in the United States. Stemme, the certified German manufacturer of ULTRA's S12 airframe, currently operates at approximately 25% of production capacity across its facilities in Strausberg and Pasewalk, which span approximately 135,571 square feet of design, production and maintenance space. Ondas plans to increase utilisation of these facilities while establishing significant U.S. airframe production capacity with 345,000 square feet of planned production space to shorten supply lines and improve responsiveness to U.S. customer requirements. The acquisition would also reduce reliance on an external supplier and enable closer coordination between engineering and production as ULTRA scales.

"Our objective is to align aircraft production with the scale of customer requirements," said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. "Acquiring Stemme would give us greater control over airframe capacity, cost and schedule as we work toward 10 ULTRA aircraft per month by 2028 and bring significant production capacity to the United States. This plan connects an operational, lower-cost ISR aircraft with an existing manufacturing base that has capacity to support increased production."

"ULTRA was designed to deliver persistent ISR at long range, at a fraction of the cost of traditional platforms," said Ryan Hartman, President and CEO of Ondas Sentinel. "Our focus now is building more aircraft, faster. Bringing Stemme into Ondas Sentinel would put the airframe, the engineering and the production line under one roof, so we can respond faster to customer requirements, meet demand as ULTRA scales and iterate the design of ULTRA for future U.S. Air Force requirements."

Koenraad Geurts and Benjamin de Broqueville, Co-CEOs of Stemme, shared their enthusiasm for the strategic milestone: "We are incredibly excited about our future with Ondas and look forward to what we will achieve together as we enter this next chapter of growth and innovation within the Ondas Sentinel group."

Stemme holds EASA, LBA and FAA airworthiness approvals and operates an FAA Part 145 repair station, complementing its airframe manufacturing, engineering and maintenance capabilities. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.