Helsing, the German Defense Tech Startup, supported by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and others, produces 6000 HX-2 Strike drones in addition to the 4,000 HF-1 Strike drones Financed by Germany which are currently delivered in Ukraine.
“We scale up the production of HX-2 in response to extra orders from Ukraine,” said co-founder Gundbert Scherf, in a statement.
The announcement comes shortly after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, which raises questions about how long the conflict takes longer.
Strike Drones, as their name suggests, are armed drones used in military operations, a spaceship twist In 2024. The company started as an AI softwareplay, but now claims its place as “one of the largest strike drone manufacturers worldwide,” said his latest announcement.
Drones, especially first-person-view (FPV) Kamikaze drones that are managed by human pilots, have played a crucial role in helping Ukraine to compensate for his numerical and equipment names against Russia.
Even cheap FPV drones capable of precision attacksAnd many are Made in Ukraine by the state run, commercial and basic manufacturersBut the Helsing models add the possibility to mount themselves in swarms.
However, Helsing is also not a completely hardware company. Instead, the bet is on a mix of hardware and software, including being Altra platform Connect drones. “We solve the hard problems in the software layer, not the electronics,” said another co-founders of Helsing, “Niklas Köhler.” HX-2 is only the first of a whole series of products based on this principle. “
Unveiled at the end of 2024, the HX-2 Kamikaze Drone model Integrates AI, but is also designed to be on scale.
When it comes to autonomous drones, AI is more than a gimmick; It helps the machines to find their goals even when communication is stuck and the data signal is lost. But the costs also matter, especially for Kamikaze devices. That is why Helsing also wanted the production to be scalable.
The company has not disclosed the prices, but claims that its approach leads to lower unit costs and more scalable production than competitive options such as the Aerovice Switchblade And his advanced sensors.
Resilience
In contrast to the HF-1 drones, which are made in collaboration with the Ukrainian industry, these newer devices are intended to be manufactured in production facilities that names of the housing “Resilience“And is planning to build throughout Europe.
Building multiple facilities instead of the centralization of production has the advantage that it is possible to be able to buy local supply chains and workforce, which is often a requirement of national defense purchasing departments for sovereignty reasons.
According to the company, the first resilience factory in southern Germany is now operational, with an initial monthly production capacity of more than 1,000 HX-2. Like other comparable facilities, it can also be “production rates to tens of thousands of units in the event of a conflict.”
The announcement of Helsing was made on the eve of the Munich security conferenceInmissive South Germany as a defense hub. From a report issued this week by Dealroom and NATO Innovation Fund, the country secured the most important place in Europe in Defense, resilience and security financing in 2024, with Munich as the main cluster.
Helsing himself played a major role in this financing dump with a series C of $ 487 million C that it collected from General Catalyst and others last year. The startup, which has been attracted something € 761.5 million To date (or about $ 791 million), one revealed strategic partnership With French AI champion Mistral this week during the AI Action Summit of Paris. “Europe must assert its strength as a geopolitical actor, and AI leadership is the key to that power and future safety and prosperity of Europe,” Scherf explained.