The startup Infinteq from Mülheim an der Ruhr builds high-tech drones for Ukraine. Germany must also prepare itself, says the company founder.
Mülheim/Ruhr – The seagull is ubiquitous. A miniature model, scale 1:10, stands on the conference table. The panoramic window behind it provides a view of the originals in the production hall: lined up one behind the other, high-tech drones are stored there. Gull One E, Möwe Eins E, is the name of the aircraft assembled at Infinteq in Mülheim an der Ruhr.
The drone Gull One E is extremely quiet.
Wingspan of the seagull: 3.30 meters, length: 1.50 meters. And at 50 centimeters high, it is quite flat. The drone looks like a small stealth aircraft. Or a futuristic kite. But the winged machines are not toys, but state-of-the-art military equipment. Ukrainian armed forces use the Gull One E for defense against Russia. "The Ukrainians approached us. They had specific requirements about what properties the drones should have," says Infinteq CEO André Komp, who founded the company in 2024.
Komp – tall, broad-shouldered, bald head, firm handshake – is no newcomer to the industry. His roots are in game design, later he switched to defense technologies. Not an unusual career path; gaming and defense tech go hand in hand. Armed forces worldwide use technology originating from the computer game industry. The Unreal Engine, for instance, a 3D software for first-person shooters, has long been standard in military simulation and training environments. Many Ukrainian drone pilots also come from the gaming scene.
Quiet drones as an advantage in the fight against Putin's troops
"From the first stroke on paper to the first test flight, we developed the Gull One E in four months," says Komp. "'Made in Germany' can also be fast." For Ukraine, the drone system from Germany could make a decisive difference. The seagull is VTOL-capable, as it is called in jargon. The abbreviation stands for Vertical Take-Off and Landing, meaning it is a vertical take-off and landing aircraft. And the E in the name stands for electric drive: "Thanks to its electric turbines in level flight, it is very quiet compared to drones with combustion engines," explains Komp.
The hard-to-locate seagulls travel at 150 kilometers per hour and are primarily used for reconnaissance. They fly in formation fully automatically along predetermined routes, including takeoff and landing. And: The systems should be as easy to assemble as possible. "At the front, not everyone is a trained technician or engineer. We develop products that are squad-ready. That can be assembled and operated even at minus 20 degrees Celsius with gloves."
The production hall at Infinteq: photos are only permitted to a limited extent.
The seagull was just the beginning. In Mülheim, they are also developing aircraft that can carry and precisely drop underwater drones. Unlike most other German drone manufacturers, Infinteq sees itself as a system house that delivers aerial drones, maritime sensors, control software, and ground control stations in one package. Air, ground, water: they call it a multi-domain platform here. "Everything can be controlled via a single software solution. A single drone has much less tactical capability than networked drone systems that act together." The motto "Connecting Smart Drones" stands in large black letters on a pillar in the production hall.
Photos are only permitted to a very limited extent. And some details from production must not be made public. No information should reach Russia or China. Beijing is suspected of training Russian soldiers. And security authorities repeatedly register cyber attacks from the country. "We therefore deliberately avoid using components from China in our drone systems," says Komp. Journalists are rarely in the hall. But the industry is already changing and opening up.
A few years ago, the defense industry was the unloved stepchild. Since the Ukraine war, politicians like to be seen at photo opportunities at arms companies like Rheinmetall, and the Bundeswehr does extensive advertising at the Gamescom gaming fair. And recently, Green Party leader Franziska Brantner made a stop at Infinteq during her summer tour. Komp is aware of the dilemma; war is terrible. "But our goal is the defense of democracy," he says. "In Germany, too, we must prepare to be able to fend off several drones simultaneously." (Sources: On-site visit at Infinteq, own research)
