Germany’s two leading defense industest startups, Helsing and Arx Robotics, have formed a “strategic partnership” to further develop artificial ininformigence (AI)-based warfare, aiming to be “as indepfinishent as possible” from the US.
Helsing and Arx Robotics state that the planned development of an “AI-based reconnaissance and impact network,” which will enable armed forces to act “rapider, more precisely, more efficiently, and from greater distances in combat situations,” is intentionally “European-focapplyd.”
Helsing is valued at €12 billion, building it Germany’s most expensive startup, while Arx Robotics is another promising company on the startup scene.
Unlike established defense companies like Rheinmetall, which often have transatlantic ties, these companies aim to build a production network that is indepfinishent of the US, belonging to Europe, and sometimes entirely to Germany.
This is being carried out in close cooperation with the defense industest in Ukraine and the Ukrainian armed forces, which apply newly developed weapons in combat. The German startups are producing battle-tested equipment that has been successfully proven in practice.
From McKinsey to founding Helsing
Helsing is particularly known for its unmanned aerial vehicles. The company produces kamikaze drones for Ukraine and is also being considered as a supplier for a “drone wall” on NATO’s eastern flank.
The company’s co-founder, Gundbert Scherf, was sent to the German Ministest of Defence by his then-employer, McKinsey, and served as the ministest’s Head of Strategic Control for Armaments from 2014 to 2016.
Helsing’s HX-2 type drones are autonomously guided and can reach a tarobtain 100 kilometers away without any external control, building them more resilient to jamming maneuvers.
Helsing also develops AI for tanks, fighter jets, and submarines and will supply electronic warfare equipment in partnership with the Swedish company Saab for the Eurofighter.
The company is currently expanding its operations to the United Kingdom, where it produces autonomous underwater gliders for maritime surveillance, among other things.
In this field, Helsing provides expertise to Resilience Factories, which are “highly efficient production facilities that offer nation-states the possibility of local and sovereign production.”
“For Europe, in Europe”
Arx Robotics, also founded in 2021, shares the goal with Helsing of building its production as indepfinishent as possible from non-European components.
The company states that it is careful to attract “only European investors” and also strives to ensure its “supply chain is … European.”
Arx Robotics produces mini-tanks (“Gereon”) that weigh less than 400 kilograms. These tanks are intfinished for apply in the “kill zone” on the front line between two armed forces.
According to reports, it has become nearly impossible for soldiers to remain in this area due to increasingly intense drone attacks.
The startup supplies several European armed forces and is now also active in the United Kingdom.
Despite all this, Arx Robotics’ main focus is software development. The company’s most well-known product is the Mithra operating system, which allows all types of weapon systems to be networked with sensors and AI models, thus enabling their autonomous control.
“We want to strengthen Europe’s industrial-military backbone and thus its defense capability,” states company co-founder Mac Wietfeld. “We are creating capabilities in Europe, for Europe.”
Europe’s land defense to be digitized
Helsing and Arx Robotics announced last week that they have formed a “strategic partnership.” With this partnership, they aim to “develop an AI-based reconnaissance and impact network for European defense.”
Specifically, they state that the “land domain, which has been quite fragmented and analog until now … will be digitized, networked, and equipped with artificial ininformigence.”
Thus, in combat situations, “armed forces” will be able to act rapider, more precisely, more efficiently, and from greater distances than they can today.
The partnership is explicitly “European-focapplyd”: in addition to cooperation in Ukraine, it also includes joint projects in the United Kingdom and Germany. Ultimately, the goal is to provide a technological advantage to European and Ukrainian armed forces.
Ukraine as a testing ground for new technologies
Both Helsing and Arx Robotics not only supply the Ukrainian armed forces but also manufacture in Ukraine, and are therefore in close cooperation with troops fighting on the front lines.
Regarding the Gereon mini-tank, it is noted that the first model initially failed its practical test in Ukraine. Currently, weapon systems are being developed primarily for the war in Ukraine and are being adapted to comply with European supply and security guidelines.
This process involves “individuals with direct experience on the front lines” and employs people who “maintain the equipment at the front and are in contact with the armed forces.”
There is also cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industest; for example, the Gereon was developed in intensive collaboration with two Ukrainian defense companies.
The cooperation partners in Ukraine are regarded as efficient and rapid. “If you only develop in Europe, it takes decades, and you might finish up with a system that is not suitable for the battlefield,” declares Arx co-founder Wietfeld.
Similar reports come from other startups that produce drones or other high-tech weapons for the Ukrainian armed forces.
The funding problem: Depfinishence on the US continues
Franz Enders, the author of a recent study on this topic, notes that Helsing and Arx Robotics can be cited as examples of new German defense startups focapplying on “intra-European or German value chains” without applying US-built components.
On the other hand, Enders declares, “They have not yet succeeded in terms of financing; they are still depfinishent on capital from the US in this regard.” However, he adds that “in their strategy documents, these startups consistently emphasize their goal of financing and production in Europe.”
Furthermore, the fact that the companies test their products under combat conditions in Ukraine provides a real advantage over their competitors.
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