Ondas Buys the German Maker Behind Its ULTRA Drone, Aiming for 10 Aircraft a Month and U.S. Production

Ondas is buying the company that builds the airframe under its ULTRA long-endurance surveillance drone. The plan is to increase ULTRA production fivefold and move a large share of the work to the United States.

The Nasdaq-listed autonomy and defense technology company said November 5 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Stemme GmbH, a German manufacturer, in an all-cash deal. The price was not disclosed. Ondas expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

A sailplane-based ISR drone

ULTRA is built on Stemme’s type-certified S12, a two-seat composite motorglider design, converted into an uncrewed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. Ondas says the platform is:

• Operationally deployed by the U.S. Air Force.
• Capable of more than 70 hours of flight time.
• Able to carry more than 400 pounds of payload.
• Modular, with options for electro-optical and infrared sensors, radio-frequency collection and communications relay.

Starting from a certified airframe is the core of the pitch. Ondas argues that using an existing commercial aviation design lets it deliver persistent ISR at a fraction of the cost of traditional military platforms. In its framing, ULTRA is a lower-cost aircraft that can fly alongside scarce high-end assets as the Pentagon pursues “affordable mass.”

From two a month to ten

Defense Daily reports that ULTRA production currently runs at about two systems a month. Ondas wants 10 aircraft a month by 2028. According to the company, Stemme is running at only about 25% of capacity across its facilities in Strausberg and Pasewalk, Germany, which total roughly 135,600 square feet. Ondas plans to fill that unused capacity and also build about 345,000 square feet of new airframe production space in the United States. It has not yet said where.

“Acquiring Stemme would give us greater control over airframe capacity, cost and schedule,” Ondas Chairman and CEO Eric Brock said in the announcement. Ryan Hartman, who leads the Ondas Sentinel unit, said putting the airframe, engineering and production line under one roof would let the company iterate ULTRA’s design for future Air Force requirements.

Ondas also lists dual-use missions for ULTRA, including border and maritime surveillance, disaster response, environmental monitoring and commercial infrastructure inspection.

Caveats

The production target and the U.S. factory are plans, not facilities that exist today. The deal still needs regulatory approval, which may include foreign-investment review in Germany. Ondas did not disclose the price or say where the U.S. plant will go. Performance numbers are company figures.

What this means for drone pilots

Most of our readers won’t fly a 70-hour Group 5-class ISR aircraft. The trend still matters, though. The defense world is moving toward cheaper, mass-produced uncrewed aircraft built from proven commercial designs, and that pulls work, parts supply chains and jobs into the U.S. drone industry. Pilots who understand airspace, crew resource management and sensor payloads are well placed for that work, whether it’s at a defense contractor or on commercial missions like wide-area inspection and disaster response that these aircraft increasingly handle too.

Most careers in uncrewed aviation start with the basics: airspace classes, weather, loading and performance, and operating rules. Those are exactly what the FAA Part 107 exam tests. Drone U’s Part 107 course covers all of it, and students have been known to complete the online course in 3 days and pass.

Sources: Defense Daily; Ondas press release; Ondas/Stemme fact sheet.

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