“FRANKFURT. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important in the defense industry. The Munich-based startup Helsing and the Danish software provider Systematic will be working together in the future to develop highly networked and communicating drone swarms. Both companies will sign a corresponding agreement this Wednesday at Europe's largest defense trade fair, DSEI, in London.
Through their collaboration, Helsing and Systematic aim to enable Europe to take a leading role in this new capability, according to the companies. Helsing also announced its intention to develop an AI-based reconnaissance and combat system for European defense with Arx Robotics, also based in Munich.
Arx is considered a leader in the development of unmanned ground vehicles. At the end of August, CEO Marc Wietfeld announced in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) the delivery of the Gereon Combat mini-tank for use in Ukraine. With Helsing, they have now found the "best-in-class partner" to create technological leaps in the European defense sector, Wietfeld is quoted as saying in a press release.
Helsing was founded about five years ago and is best known for its unmanned kamikaze drones, some of which were developed and are being used under combat conditions in Ukraine. The current model, the HX-2, is currently being tested by the German Armed Forces for large-scale procurement, as is the competing product from Stark Defence, another German startup. Following its most recent funding round, Helsing, with a valuation of around twelve billion euros, is considered the most valuable young defense company in Europe.
Systematic was founded in Aarhus, Denmark, in the 1990s and is now considered the largest Danish software company with more than 1,000 employees. Its most important product is the Sitaware software platform with numerous applications that enable command and information functions across various military levels. According to the company, Sitaware is currently being used by more than 50 armed forces worldwide, including 19 in Europe. The software also serves as a command and control platform for NATO land forces.
According to Helsing's co-CEO and co-founder Gundbert Scherf, the collaboration will integrate Helsing's AI platform Altra with Sitaware.
The data from countless unmanned reconnaissance systems of a brigade can then be used at "unprecedented speed" for tasks such as creating target lists, plans, and orders, allocating attack resources, and providing correlated images of friendly and enemy forces. During the Cold War, it took up to 15 minutes to identify and then engage a target for artillery fire, Scherf said in an interview with the F.A.Z. "Once we have deeply integrated the systems, target acquisition will be in real time, and engagement will be possible in under three minutes." This speed advantage is crucial for today's complex operations, such as those in Ukraine, Scherf emphasizes, which are no longer comparable to the lengthy decision-making processes seen in operations like the one in Afghanistan. Michael Holm, founder and main shareholder of Systematic, highlights the new possibilities of collecting significantly more data behind enemy lines than before through networked drones. "This frees up many soldiers for other tasks," says Holm, who also emphasizes the data sovereignty of his customers.
"The data is stored on European servers, and if our partners should ever decide on a different system, the data will remain with them." [1]
1. Deutsches Start-up arbeitet an vernetzten Drohnenschwärmen: Helsing kooperiert mit dänischem Softwareanbieter. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 10 Sep 2025: 19.
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