STARK Defence (legal entity SKD SE) is a Berlin-based European defence technology company founded in 2024 by Florian Seibel (co-founder of Quantum Systems), Johannes Schaback, and Uwe Horstmann. The company builds software-driven unmanned systems across air, maritime, and software domains, with the stated goal of strengthening European security and sovereignty. Its flagship product is Virtus, an electrically powered VTOL loitering munition carrying a 5 kg warhead with roughly 100 km range, designed for precision strikes and deployable from frontline to frontline in minimal time. Other products include the Vanta 6 unmanned surface vessel (USV), the Minerva C2/mission-management software for multi-domain operations, the Gambit tube-launched effector, the Cascade simultaneous multi-effector launch system, and the MOSA digital sovereignty platform.

STARK went from founding to frontline deployment in 13 months and has secured major procurement contracts, including a framework agreement with the German Bundeswehr signed in February 2026 for several thousand Virtus loitering munitions (part of a ~€540M first tranche shared with Helsing). The company supplies exclusively to NATO allies and partner nations, and its systems have seen operational use in Ukraine. It operates production and R&D facilities across five countries — Germany, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Sweden — covering 18,500 sqm of production space.

In September 2026, STARK acquired Berlin-based Raydiant RF to expand its electronic warfare capabilities, integrating RF, antenna design, and software-defined radio expertise into its unmanned systems and Minerva software. The company has grown rapidly to approximately 201–500 employees and invests more than 45% of expenditure into R&D. It is valued at approximately €3.2–3.5 billion following its June 2026 Series C round, making it one of Europe's most prominent defence-tech unicorns.