Helsing is a European defence technology company that develops AI-enabled precision mass and autonomous systems for democratic governments and their industrial partners. The company takes a software-native approach to defence, combining advanced AI architectures with software-defined hardware to upgrade existing military assets and field new autonomous capabilities across domains.
Its portfolio spans land, air and maritime systems, alongside sovereign manufacturing capacity for critical defence assets. Helsing positions ethics, sovereignty and operational relevance at the center of its development model, with offerings designed for contested environments, rapid capability evolution and resilient European supply chains.
Offerings, Capabilities, and Integrations
Helsing combines AI software, mission systems, autonomy, onboard processing and software-defined hardware to support surveillance, targeting, strike coordination, electronic warfare and autonomous operations. Its systems are built for degraded and denied environments, with emphasis on resilient communications, edge processing, rapid software iteration and scalable deployment.
Integration is a consistent theme across the portfolio. Helsing works to connect existing sensors, effectors, aircraft, drones, artillery and maritime assets into AI-enabled operational networks rather than requiring wholesale platform replacement. It also pairs software-first design with sovereign manufacturing, giving customers a path to local production, distributed capacity and long-term control over upgrades and sustainment.
Products and Services
- CA-1 Europa: Autonomous fighter jet in the three-to-five ton class under development for multi-mission operations in contested environments. It combines Helsing’s AI and mission systems with a modular airframe built for scalable, sovereign production.
- Altra: Recce-strike software platform for land combat that connects ISR assets, drones, artillery and other effectors for AI-enabled target acquisition and coordinated precision effects.
- HX-2: Software-defined and mass-producible AI strike drone designed for EW-resilient missions, beyond-line-of-sight engagements and swarm operations through native integration with Altra.
- SG-1 Fathom: Mass-manufacturable autonomous subsurface glider for persistent underwater surveillance, designed to operate at scale and integrated with Lura for real-time detection and classification.
- Lura: AI software platform for underwater surveillance that applies real-time edge processing and a large acoustic model to detect, classify and manage subsurface contacts and mission data.
- Cirra: AI software for electronic warfare that uses deep learning to classify and interpret unknown anti-aircraft emitters and support threat evaluation in air combat missions.
- Centaur: AI pilot stack for autonomous air combat that integrates into current and future fighter aircraft to support high-speed tactical decision-making and collaborative air operations.
- Resilience Factories: High-efficiency production facilities designed to provide local, sovereign and distributed manufacturing capacity for critical defence assets, including autonomous systems built at scale.
- CA-1 Electronic Attack: New autonomous combat aircraft variant built on the CA-1 platform for electronic warfare missions, designed to jam hostile ground systems and support other aircraft operating in contested airspace.
- CA-1KA: Kinetic-attack version of the CA-1 platform now being developed as an autonomous combat aircraft, sharing the core airframe, propulsion, autonomy software and ground control infrastructure of the wider CA-1 family.
Target Customers
Helsing primarily serves ministries of defence, related government agencies and military units in democratic countries. Its offerings are aligned to armed forces that need sovereign, scalable capabilities for land, air and maritime operations, especially where survivability, operational tempo and autonomous mass are priorities.
The company also works with defence primes, aerospace manufacturers and other industrial partners that want to integrate AI into in-service platforms or co-develop new autonomous systems. This makes Helsing relevant both to customers modernising existing fleets and to those procuring new platforms and local production capacity.
Key People
- Dr. Gundbert Scherf: Co-Founder, Co-CEO
- Torsten Reil: Co-Founder, Co-CEO
- Niklas Köhler: Co-Founder, President and Chief Product Officer
- Daniel Ek: Co-Chairman
- Tom Enders: Co-Chairman
- Frank Dirksen: Chief Commercial Officer
- Anita Szarek: Chief Financial Officer
- Dr. Robert Fink: Chief Technology Officer
- Sam Rogerson: Chief Operating Officer
- Dr. Antoine Bordes: Chief Scientist
- Johannes Boie: Chief Marketing Officer and Communications
Key Facts
- Headquarters: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Employees: 900+
- Annual Revenue: €26.9M
- Parent Company: None
- Subsidiaries: Approximately 6, including Helsing Germany GmbH, Helsing Limited, Helsing SAS, Helsing OÜ, Grob Aircraft SE, and Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems.
- Publicly Listed: No (privately held)
