Helsing, the German protection tech startup backed by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and others, is producing 6,000 HX-2 strike drones along with the 4,000 HF-1 strike drones financed by Germany which can be at the moment being delivered to Ukraine.
“We’re scaling up manufacturing of HX-2 in response to extra orders from Ukraine,” Helsing co-founder Gundbert Scherf mentioned in an announcement.
The announcement comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations to finish the battle in Ukraine, elevating questions on how for much longer the battle could final.
Strike drones, as their identify suggests, are weaponized drones utilized in army operations, an area Helsing pivoted into in 2024. The corporate began out as an AI software program play, however now claims its spot as “one of many largest strike drone producers globally,” in keeping with its newest announcement.
Drones, notably first-person-view (FPV) kamikaze drones operated by human pilots, have performed a important position in serving to Ukraine offset its numerical and tools disadvantages in opposition to Russia.
Even low-cost FPV drones are able to precision strikes, and lots of are made in Ukraine by state-run, business and grass-roots producers, however Helsing’s fashions add the power to assemble into swarms.
Nonetheless, Helsing isn’t turning into a full-on {hardware} firm both. As a substitute, its guess is on a mixture of {hardware} and software program, together with its Altra platform connecting drones. “We resolve the exhausting issues within the software program layer, not the electronics,” mentioned one other of Helsing’s co-founders,” Niklas Köhler. “HX-2 is simply the primary of an entire vary of merchandise primarily based on this premise.”
Unveiled in late 2024, the HX-2 kamikaze drone mannequin integrates AI, however has additionally been designed to be manufacturable at scale.
On the subject of autonomous drones, AI is greater than a gimmick; it helps the machines discover their targets even when communications are jammed and knowledge sign is misplaced. However prices additionally matter, particularly for kamikaze gadgets. That’s why Helsing additionally wished manufacturing to be scalable.
The corporate hasn’t disclosed pricing, however claims its strategy results in decrease unit prices and extra scalable manufacturing than competing choices such because the AeroVironment Switchblade and its superior sensors.
Resilience factories
Not like the HF-1 drones, that are made in partnership with Ukrainian business, these newer gadgets are supposed to be manufactured in manufacturing services that Helsing names “Resilience Factories” and plans to construct throughout Europe.
Constructing a number of services as an alternative of centralizing manufacturing has the benefit of having the ability to supply from native provide chains and workforces, which is usually a requirement from nationwide protection procurement departments for sovereignty causes.
In response to the corporate, its first Resilience Manufacturing facility in Southern Germany is now operational, with an preliminary month-to-month manufacturing capability of greater than 1,000 HX-2. Like different related services, it could actually additionally “scale manufacturing charges to tens of 1000’s of items in case of a battle.”
Helsing’s announcement was made on the eve of the Munich Safety Convention, confirming Southern Germany as a protection hub. A report launched this week by Dealroom and the NATO Innovation Fund revealed that the nation secured Europe’s high spot in Defence, Resilience, and Safety funding in 2024, with Munich as its principal cluster.
Helsing itself performed a giant position on this funding surge with an $487 million Sequence C it raised from Normal Catalyst and others final 12 months. The startup, which has pulled in some €761.5 million so far (or roughly $791 million), unveiled a strategic partnership with French AI champion Mistral this week in the course of the Paris AI Motion Summit. “Europe wants to say its energy as a geopolitical actor, and AI management is the important thing to that energy and Europe’s future safety and prosperity,” Scherf said.
