Helsing

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), Admiral Pierre VANDIER, visited Helsing's Resilience Factory in Southern Germany. The factory uses local supply chains to deliver sovereign production capacity for Ukraine and increasingly NATO nations. With thousands of systems procured for Germany’s Brigade Lithuania and other allies following suit, HX-2 is rapidly becoming a cornerstone capability for NATO’s forward defence. Tested across European environments and proven on the battlefield in Ukraine, HX-2 and Helsing’s recce-strike software platform Altra together represent a new standard: software-defined, AI-driven, interoperable, and built for the realities of modern high-intensity conflict. Admiral Vandier and Helsing's Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dr. Gundbert Scherf met the team producing HX-2 systems bound mostly for the frontline in Ukraine and the German army – a production line that has scaled to more than 1,000 units per month. By absorbing hardware complexity into software, HX-2 can be produced at volumes unprecedented for modern autonomous strike drones.

Professor Richard Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth, and Helsing’s UK Managing Director Ned Baker have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Plymouth at the Oceanology International forum to develop the talent that will make the UK a global leader in maritime autonomy. This partnership builds on our long term commitment to Plymouth right at the heart of maritime defence, where we have opened our first UK Resilience Factory. Together with the University, one of the leading global academic institutions in the maritime sector, we’ll be collaborating on research and testing facilities, shaping curricula and courses to be job-ready, and co-developing apprenticeship and hiring schemes.

With the threat to underwater infrastructure increasing, last week we were testing our SG-1 Fathom underwater glider in the Baltic Sea.  Following trials over the last year across the UK and Australia, SG-1 is building on real-world data to continuously improve, providing the capabilities allied navies urgently need.  SG-1, with Helsing's Lura AI platform, gives a single operator the ability to plan, manage and analyse a swarm of autonomous gliders, detecting and classifying subsurface threats at the edge, even in environments where bandwidth is most constrained. 

Our second German resilience factory is now live, producing 1000 HX-2s every month, with the ability to add another 400-600 drones per month. The factory was designed to scale whilst rapidly accommodating design changes based on battlefield feedback. The factory's design and operation is being led by Dr. Michael Schwekutsch, Helsing's EVP Physical Products, who previously scaled production at Tesla. Michael's team is applying automotive-grade quality tools – digital factory twins, full component traceability, EN9100 certification – to ensure every system shipped meets the standards required for contested environments. For more details check out a recent German story from WirtschaftsWoche, link in comments.

HX-2s ready to go out for delivery. This is the Helsing factory output of half a week.

A lot has happened since last year's Munich Security Conference, when Helsing committed to helping build a stronger Europe by developing sovereign capabilities and scaling up manufacturing. Since then, we introduced CA-1 Europa, Europe's first autonomous fighter jet, controlled by Centaur, our RL-based AI pilot. We scaled up HX-2 mass production, now producing 1,000 strike drones every month. And we opened our resilience factory in Plymouth, UK, which will produce our subsurface glider SG-1. But another shift has happened: Europe's soul searching has given way to resolve. Defence budgets have risen, procurement has accelerated, and a new set of capabilities is being developed in record time across the European defence ecosystem. Europe is rising to the challenge. We are looking forward to a momentous Munich Security Conference.

Today, Helsing and HENSOLDT are announcing a strategic partnership to build the next generation of air combat systems: autonomous and intelligent. Our first joint project will focus on CA-1 Europa, Helsing's upcoming autonomous fighter jet platform. CA-1 will integrate Hensoldt's advanced radar, optronics, self-protection and electromagnetic warfare sensors to provide unparalleled capabilities in this category. By building on Hensoldt's high-performance sensor suite, Helsing is able to further enhance the capabilities of its air combat AI algorithms, which have previously been demonstrated in live missions above the Baltic sea. "Modern air systems must detect, decide and act faster while remaining secure and connected across domains. This requires the integration of high-performance sensors and artificial intelligence", said Stephanie Lingemann, Vice President Air at Helsing.  "This partnership between Hensoldt and Helsing brings together two European defence technology companies focused on advancing sovereign capabilities – designed and built in Europe." 

Are you seeking a career that truly makes a difference? At Helsing, we're working on defending European democracies.     Our mission is advanced by our team, our founders, and our investors, who are all rooted in the pluralistic and open values of open societies and western-style democracies.    We're expanding our teams across Europe from engineering and AI research to commercial and finance roles, and we seek passionate, innovative minds to join us in Germany, the UK, France, and beyond.    Explore our open positions and learn more about our mission: https://lnkd.in/ds4B3fmP

Helsing’s Chief Scientist Antoine B., together with his co-authors Jason Weston, Ronan Collobert and Yoshua Bengio, has received the prestigious AAAI Classic Paper Award from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). It recognises research that has had a significant and lasting impact on the field of artificial intelligence. Their paper pioneered a way for AI to learn from structured and verifiable facts, a breakthrough that was fundamental for the very first generative AI models.  Antoine joined Helsing in 2023 and relocated to Europe, his home, to solve some of Europe’s most critical security and AI challenges. Fifteen years after writing this landmark paper, he is still honouring its main principle and building trustworthy systems that will stand the test of time. If you are an AI researcher wanting to build with Antoine, join us! We’re hiring top AI talent. https://helsing.ai/careers

Helsing has completed flight testing for Cirra, an AI-powered electronic warfare system that identifies unknown radar threats in real time through on-board processing. The system was integrated into Helsing’s flying testbed with a live satellite link to the ground for live telemetry, allowing real-time validation using operational data rather than simulation alone. Unlike traditional systems that rely on pre-programmed threat libraries, Cirra uses AI and deep learning to determine radar intent, enabling pilots in the air to respond to adaptive, software-defined radars. Cirra is currently the only sovereign system available to European air forces capable of interpreting previously unseen radar emitters in flight.