A bio-robotic unit developed by SWARM Biotactics with a custom sensor backpack for gathering intelligence. (Image: SWARM Biotactics)
Modern warfare seems to be progressing briskly and in unprecedented ways. While the world is witnessing increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in warfare, Germany seems to be employing deep tech for espionage in innovative ways.
SWARM Robotics, a defence startup based in Kassel, Germany, has introduced a bioelectronic ‘cyborg’ cockroach that has been developed to crawl through high-risk environments that are unreachable for troops or drones to gather intelligence.
The company has developed fully ‘controllable living insects’ for mission-critical operations. According to the company, it is building a new kind of robotics that are living, intelligent systems capable of venturing into spaces that are impossible for machines to navigate.
These biorobotic swarms are tiny cockroaches that carry a backpack filled with AI hardware, radios, and modular sensors such as cameras and microphones. They can crawl through rubble, tunnels, and other GPS-denied spaces and can relay live intelligence.
“What you’re seeing is real. Living organisms, controlled through bioelectronic neural interfaces, carry sensors, edge AI, and secure comms. Moving as a coordinated unit. Scaling through breeding, not factories,” said the CEO of SWARM Biotactics, Stefan Wilhelm.
Reportedly, NATO forces, including sections of German forces, are field-testing the insect platforms for reconnaissance missions. Describing the technology, Wilhelm said, “We’re entering a decade where access, autonomy, and resilience define geopolitical advantage.”
According to Wilhelm, conventional systems fail where control is needed the most, such as in denied zones, collapsed infrastructure, and politically complex terrain.
In his LinkedIn post, the CEO said that in just 12 months the company went from founding to having over 40 engineers and scientists across Germany and the US. They were able to build full-stack technology, including neural interface, swarm autonomy, modular payloads, and mission control.
“We’re not building a better drone. We’re building a different scaling law for physical intelligence – one where capability compounds through biology, not engineering complexity. This is just year one,” Wilhelm wrote.
Curated by James Chen
