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Helsing (company)

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Helsing SE
Company typePrivate
IndustryDefence technology
FoundedMarch 2021; 5 years ago (2021-03)
FounderTorsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, Niklas Köhler
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
Area served
Europe, Ukraine, democratic nations
Key people
Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, Niklas Köhler, Daniel Ek (chairman)
ProductsMilitary strike drones (HF-1, HX-2), underwater monitoring systems (SG-1 Fathom), AI software (Altra, Cirra, Centaur)

Helsing SE is a Munich-based German defence technology firm established in 2021 by Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Köhler. The company specialises in the development of military strike drones, underwater monitoring systems, and AI software aimed at enhancing weapons capabilities and supporting battlefield decision processes.

History

Founded in March 2021, Helsing initially focused on artificial intelligence software. Its founders include Torsten Reil, a developer with a background in gaming; Gundbert Scherf, formerly affiliated with the German Ministry of Defence; and Niklas Köhler, an expert in machine learning. Their AI solutions process extensive sensor and weapons data to deliver real-time battlefield intelligence that improves military command decisions. Over time, Helsing expanded into drone design and production, unveiling the HX-2 drone series in December 2024. Headquartered in Munich, the company has also set up branches in Estonia, France, and the United Kingdom. According to Reil, the impetus for launching Helsing was partly influenced by Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. The company commits to selling exclusively to democratic nations.

Niklas Köhler’s earlier venture, Hellsicht—a deep learning firm founded in 2017—was integrated into Helsing. In 2022, Helsing acquired Design AI, a specialist in reinforcement learning technologies.

Following the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Helsing forged collaborations with Rheinmetall in September 2022 and Saab in September 2023 to embed its AI into their current weapons platforms. The company has continued advancing AI systems tailored for Ukraine amid ongoing conflict.

In 2024, Helsing secured a contract to develop AI infrastructure for the Future Combat Air System project. That same year, it partnered with Airbus to co-develop the Wingman AI system. Helsing’s AI solutions have been incorporated into the onboard systems of the Eurofighter Typhoon EK and have enhanced the radar capabilities of Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen.

During May and June 2025, Helsing and its partners conducted "Project Beyond," a combat trial featuring Helsing’s AI pilot, Centaur. This marked the first publicly disclosed instance of AI controlling a fully operational fighter jet—a Gripen E—in a beyond visual range dogfight against a human-controlled Gripen D. While the results did not decisively establish superiority, Helsing asserts that its AI outperforms human pilots in simulated engagements. Additionally, Helsing collaborates with the Bundeswehr to upgrade existing military platforms such as armoured vehicles by integrating its AI technologies.

At the 2025 AI Action Summit held in Paris, Helsing revealed a joint effort with Mistral AI to develop "vision-language-action" models designed for defence applications. These models enable advanced environmental awareness, operator interaction, and accelerated decision-making under complex conditions. Furthermore, Helsing teamed up with French satellite startup Loft Orbital to deploy Europe’s first multi-sensor satellite constellation powered by AI for defence purposes—supporting border monitoring, troop movement tracking, and infrastructure security.

In January 2025, Helsing launched an incubator division named Area 9 dedicated to ambitious "moonshot" projects. Among its initiatives is an AI battlefield agent capable of real-time analysis and mapping using data from satellites, synthetic aperture radar, and reconnaissance drones.

By early 2025, with Germany underwriting deliveries of 4,000 HF-1 strike drones to Ukraine, Helsing agreed to supply an additional 6,000 HX-2 drones.

In April 2025, Bloomberg News reported investigations into Helsing amid allegations regarding overpriced drones and software malfunctions. Former employees, investors, and military analysts have questioned both the reliability of its technology and business ethics. Notably, Helsing’s collaboration with Rheinmetall ended in 2024 when Rheinmetall chose to partner instead with competitor Auterion.

In June 2025, Helsing announced plans to acquire Grob Aircraft from H3 Aerospace. This acquisition aims to merge Grob’s manufacturing expertise with Helsing’s AI capabilities to produce AI-enabled reconnaissance and combat aircraft. Later that year in September, Helsing joined forces with ARX Robotics to develop integrated AI-driven reconnaissance and strike systems combining drones and unmanned ground vehicles for European defence use. In October 2025, Helsing completed its acquisition of Blue Ocean—an Australian autonomous underwater vehicle manufacturer—to integrate their hardware production with its own AI technologies.

Funding

The company's initial capital injection of €100 million was spearheaded by Spotify founder Daniel Ek via his investment firm Prima Materia in November 2021. This announcement provoked significant backlash from certain Spotify artists, who called for boycotts and criticized the allocation of streaming revenue toward military technology development.[1] In September 2023, Helsing secured a second financing round led by General Catalyst, raising €209 million.[2] The third funding round, also led by General Catalyst and including investors such as Saab, Accel, and Lightspeed, generated €450 million, valuing Helsing at nearly €5 billion as of July 2024.[3] At that stage, Prima Materia remained the largest shareholder with an approximate 17% stake, followed by General Catalyst and Saab holding roughly 12% and 5%, respectively.[4] In June 2025, Ek, who serves as chairman, orchestrated a €600 million funding round through Prima Materia, which elevated Helsing’s valuation to €12 billion and brought total capital raised to €1.37 billion.[5] This development reignited widespread artist boycotts targeting Spotify.[6][7]

Aerial

Helsing’s loitering munitions, the HF-1 and HX-2 drones, utilize artificial intelligence combined with preloaded map data to navigate and engage targets without relying on GPS. Their reconnaissance-strike system, known as Altra, integrates information from multiple drones to expand surveillance coverage and improve target identification, thereby providing operators with enhanced situational awareness for more precise decision-making.[8][9] Resistant to standard jamming techniques, the HF-1 model has been deployed by Ukraine in defense against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In September 2024, Helsing received a contract to deliver 4,000 HX-2 units to Ukraine.[10] The HX-2 drones are produced at Helsing’s facility in southern Germany, while several Ukrainian companies, including Terminal Autonomy, manufacture HF-1 units locally.[11][12] The HF-1 represents a cost-effective variant featuring plywood fuselages.[12] Plans are underway to establish similar manufacturing sites throughout Europe.[13] Due to concerns over potential sabotage linked to Russia, Helsing keeps certain production locations confidential.[14]

The HX-2 drone employs a quadcopter layout with four wings and rotors arranged in an X pattern, capable of reaching speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph).[9] It can carry a payload of up to 5 kg (11 lb) of munitions and has an operational radius of around 100 km (62 mi). Control is managed by a single operator using a specialized military-grade laptop.[10][15] The company cites advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D printing as instrumental in reducing production expenses for these drones.[15][16]

Unveiled in September 2025, the CA-1 Europa is an autonomous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) currently under development at subsidiary Grob Aircraft’s factory in Tussenhausen.[17][18] This UCAV weighs about 4 tonnes and is engineered for high subsonic flight speeds, measuring roughly 11 m (36 ft) in length with a wingspan near 10 m (33 ft).[19][20] It can accommodate up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) of armaments internally and has an estimated range between 1,400 and 1,800 kilometers.[21] Equipped with the Centaur AI agent serving as an autonomous pilot, it can operate solo or within coordinated swarms. The CA-1 is slated for its maiden flight in 2027 and aims for operational deployment by 2029.[17][19]

Underwater

In 2025, Helsing introduced the SG-1 Fathom, an autonomous underwater drone capable of operating in swarms for extended maritime monitoring and safeguarding subsea assets. These drones can remain submerged continuously for as long as 90 days without needing to surface, providing a low-maintenance solution for underwater surveillance. Equipped with Helsing's AI platform, Lura, the system swiftly processes acoustic signals to identify and categorize vessels such as ships and submarines while generating far less noise compared to traditional sonar technologies. The SG-1 measures approximately 2 meters in length, has a mass of around 60 kilograms, and can achieve speeds up to 2 knots at depths reaching 1000 meters. Instead of conventional propellers, these drones navigate by shifting their internal mass to glide silently through the water. Production is set to take place at a new manufacturing site in Plymouth, established under the Trinity House Agreement between Germany and the United Kingdom.

Software

Altra is an integrated system that consolidates reconnaissance data from ISR drones, human spotters, and various other intelligence sources for land-based combat operations. This information is processed at a high-performance ground station that delivers an accurate real-time battlefield overview and supplies targeting data for indirect fire assets such as mortars, artillery, and rocket launchers, as well as weapon stations and strike drones. The HX-2 drone is fully compatible with the Altra system.

Cirra is an AI-driven electronic warfare software currently being incorporated into the Eurofighter ECR platform. Its algorithms evaluate threats instantaneously and also interface with ground control stations to analyze collected data while operating offline to maintain operational security.

Centaur serves as a training framework for developing an AI fighter pilot aimed at achieving autonomous air combat capabilities. This system was successfully demonstrated in June 2025 using Saab’s Gripen E aircraft.

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named vice
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  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named heise
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named faz
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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bloomberg3
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TechC
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named wsj2
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named euronews
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  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named reuters-2
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bzeitung
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named thetimes2
  20. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nytimes
  21. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named challenges2
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