Helsing, the German defense tech startup backed by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and others, is producing 6,000 HX-2 strike drones in addition to the 4,000 HF-1 strike drones financed by Germany that are currently being delivered to Ukraine.
“We are scaling up production of HX-2 in response to additional orders from Ukraine,” Helsing co-founder Gundbert Scherf said in a statement.
The announcement comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, raising questions about how much longer the conflict may last.
Strike drones, as their name suggests, are weaponized drones used in military operations, a space Helsing pivoted into in 2024. The company started out as an AI software play, but now claims its spot as “one of the largest strike drone manufacturers globally,” according to its latest announcement.
Drones, particularly first-person-view (FPV) kamikaze drones operated by human pilots, have played a critical role in helping Ukraine offset its numerical and equipment disadvantages against Russia.
Even low-cost FPV drones are capable of precision strikes, and many are made in Ukraine by state-run, commercial and grass-roots manufacturers, but Helsing’s models add the ability to assemble into swarms.
However, Helsing isn’t becoming a full-on hardware company either. Instead, its bet is on a mix of hardware and software, including its Altra platform connecting drones. “We solve the hard problems in the software layer, not the electronics,” said another of Helsing’s co-founders,” Niklas Köhler. “HX-2 is just the first of a whole range of products based on this premise.”
Unveiled in late 2024, the HX-2 kamikaze drone model integrates AI, but has also been designed to be manufacturable at scale.
When it comes to autonomous drones, AI is more than a gimmick; it helps the machines find their targets even when communications are jammed and data signal is lost. But costs also matter, especially for kamikaze devices. That’s why Helsing also wanted production to be scalable.
The company hasn’t disclosed pricing, but claims its approach leads to lower unit costs and more scalable production than competing options such as the AeroVironment Switchblade and its advanced sensors.
Resilience factories
Unlike the HF-1 drones, which are made in partnership with Ukrainian industry, these newer devices are meant to be manufactured in production facilities that Helsing names “Resilience Factories” and plans to build across Europe.
Building several facilities instead of centralizing production has the advantage of being able to source from local supply chains and workforces, which is often a requirement from national defense procurement departments for sovereignty reasons.
According to the company, its first Resilience Factory in Southern Germany is now operational, with an initial monthly production capacity of more than 1,000 HX-2. Like other similar facilities, it can also “scale manufacturing rates to tens of thousands of units in case of a conflict.”
Helsing’s announcement was made on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, confirming Southern Germany as a defense hub. A report released this week by Dealroom and the NATO Innovation Fund revealed that the country secured Europe’s top spot in Defence, Resilience, and Security funding in 2024, with Munich as its main cluster.
Helsing itself played a big role in this funding surge with an $487 million Series C it raised from General Catalyst and others last year. The startup, which has pulled in some €761.5 million to date (or approximately $791 million), unveiled a strategic partnership with French AI champion Mistral this week during the Paris AI Action Summit. “Europe needs to assert its strength as a geopolitical actor, and AI leadership is the key to that strength and Europe’s future security and prosperity,” Scherf stated.
