12 November 2026 | News
Image Courtesy: Public Domain
Swarmer, Inc. (“Swarmer”) (Nasdaq: SWMR), a drone autonomy platform company which has supported more than 100,000 real-world combat missions in Ukraine since April 2024, announced that, as disclosed in its Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), shareholders voted on November 2, 2026, to approve the issuance of common stock in connection with the acquisition of Ratel Robotics (“Ratel”), a leading manufacturer of unmanned ground vehicles (“UGVs”) in Ukraine.
The acquisition signals Swarmer’s planned expansion into multi-domain autonomous systems by combining Ratel’s UGV manufacturing capabilities with Swarmer’s combat-proven autonomy software. Ratel’s UGVs are deployed across Ukraine for battlefield logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance and other missions. According to Ratel management, Ratel accounted for approximately 37% of UGV sales to the Ukrainian government in the previous procurement cycle in spring 2026. Ratel is also pursuing additional opportunities with NATO nations under the “Build With Ukraine” initiative.
As reported in Swarmer’s third quarter business update yesterday, Ratel’s preliminary unaudited revenue was $42.1 million for the first nine months of 2026, including $32.5 million in the third quarter and $14.9 million in September. Swarmer’s President and U.S. CEO Alex Fink said Ratel management projects fourth quarter 2026 revenue of $35 million to $40 million, with operating margins of 13% to 17%. As of September 30, 2026, Ratel had approximately $65.1 million in backlog under previously signed government contracts.
Swarmer’s acquisition agreement includes performance-based earnouts tied to Ratel’s future revenue and operating income targets. The revenue targets set in the agreement are $77 million in 2026, $130 million in 2027 and $187 million in 2028, with operating income targets of $8.47 million, $14.3 million and $20.57 million, respectively. An additional bonus payment becomes payable if Ratel reaches a revenue target of $249 million in 2028, along with an operating income target of $27.39 million in 2028.
“We have seen Ratel’s ability to manufacture at full capacity while increasing its capacity from one quarter to the next,” said Fink. “With this acquisition, Swarmer will no longer be a software provider reliant upon drone manufacturers for access to the battlefield. I believe Swarmer will become a direct seller of end-to-end solutions, with a portfolio that could grow to include ground vehicles, quadcopters, interceptors, and air-defense systems that could be deployed across Ukraine and other allied nations.”
More than 300 Ratel employees are expected to join Swarmer, with Taras Ostapchuk, Founder and CEO of Ratel, continuing to lead Ratel’s operations and reporting to Fink after closing. Swarmer expects the acquisition to close in November 2026, subject to the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions.
“Working together with Swarmer, we plan to combine our proven unmanned ground capabilities with aerial capabilities that have increasing levels of autonomy to handle the most dangerous missions,” Ostapchuk said. “Alex and I both have a vision to save lives, while helping Ukraine and other allied nations confront the enemies of democracy.”
Figures cited about Ratel in this news release were prepared by Ratel’s management, are preliminary, have not been independently verified by Swarmer, have not been reviewed or audited by Swarmer’s independent registered public accounting firm or any other independent accountant, were not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and may change. Projections, estimates and targets are not guarantees of future performance. The earnout targets presented elsewhere herein were negotiated for purposes of the acquisition agreement and are not projections or guidance of Ratel’s or Swarmer’s future results.
