Swarmer Signs MOU with Vectus for Air Defense Systems
News related to:Swarmer, Inc · 3 min read
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 23, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Swarmer, Inc, a drone autonomy platform company, has announced a significant partnership with Vectus Air Defense Systems, a company in which Swarmer holds a 20% interest. The partnership aims to manufacture, sell, and deploy end-to-end air defense systems in eligible markets, subject to applicable export-control, sanctions, procurement, and other governmental requirements.
Swarmer, which has supported more than 100,000 real-world combat missions in Ukraine since April 2024, today announced it has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Vectus. Under the agreement, Vectus has confirmed its intent to purchase and deploy at least 40 Swarmer-built systems in the first year, with plans to increase to 80 or more in the second year following the start of production.
The partnership intends to establish an air defense system manufacturing facility in Poland. Swarmer plans to develop an end-to-end solution that includes radars, cameras, fire control, and effectors to target a variety of threats, including newer jet-powered Shahed-type attack drones. The systems will use combat-proven Gatling-type rotary cannons, capable of firing 20mm rounds at a rate of up to 6,000 rounds per minute, as the last line of defense.
According to Alex Fink, Swarmer’s U.S. CEO and president, the systems will retail at approximately $5 million to $6 million each. Gun-based kinetic effectors are intended to significantly reduce the cost per kill compared with multimillion-dollar precision-guided missiles. Historically, drones are much cheaper than the missiles used to intercept them, whereas 20mm ammunition is relatively inexpensive and widely available.
Erik Prince, who acts as both Vectus’ CEO and Swarmer’s board chairman, expressed confidence in the systems' effectiveness.
Final quantities, pricing, financing, specifications, and delivery schedules remain subject to definitive agreements. Swarmer intends to manufacture an end-to-end solution that includes radars, cameras, fire control, and effectors to target a variety of threats, including newer jet-powered Shahed-type attack drones. The systems use combat-proven Gatling-type rotary cannons, capable of firing 20mm rounds at a rate of up to 6,000 rounds per minute, as the last line of defense.
Swarmer’s technology has been rigorously validated in real-world kinetic environments and was first deployed in combat operations in Ukraine in April 2024. Since then, it has completed more than 100,000 combat missions, generating terabytes of proprietary data that informs its machine-learning models and enables the replication of advanced pilot performance at scale. Swarmer’s routine use in combat missions generates continuous streams of telemetry, sensor data, and operational feedback, which are then used to refine performance, increase resilience, and accelerate learning.
Vectus Air Defense Systems provides Air Defense as a Service for sovereign governments and critical infrastructure operators. The company designs, integrates, and continuously operates layered air-defense systems under multi-year service agreements, while monitoring evolving threats and upgrading deployed systems as technologies and tactics change.
Forward-looking statements in this press release include the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements between Swarmer and Vectus, the proposed establishment, timing, financing, and operation of manufacturing operations in Poland, the anticipated development, manufacturing, pricing, commercial availability, sales, purchase, deployment, delivery, capabilities, and performance of the air defense systems, Vectus’ intended purchases, including anticipated quantities and timing, potential customer demand, cost savings, and market opportunity, Swarmer’s product roadmap, commercialization plans, customer adoption, growth strategy, and defense technology strategy. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.