Helsing

Helsing is a Munich-based defense-technology company and, by valuation, Europe's largest defense-AI firm. Founded in 2021 by Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Köhler, it layers AI software onto weapons and sensors rather than selling AI as a standalone product.

Its systems include the HX-2, a loitering munition that uses onboard AI terrain recognition to navigate and strike in GPS-denied and jammed environments, and Cirra, deep-learning electronic-warfare software that detects, classifies, and jams unknown radar emitters in real time. Cirra is being integrated into the Eurofighter Typhoon via Saab's Arexis suite, and Helsing is embedding AI into Gripen fighters and maritime and undersea autonomy programs. The company reports more than 4,000 HX-2 drones deployed with Ukrainian forces.

Helsing was reportedly raising around 1.2 billion dollars at roughly an 18 billion dollar valuation in mid-2026, following a June 2025 round of about 600 million euros. Its February 2026 Bundeswehr HX-2 order was worth roughly 269 million euros within a framework of up to 1.46 billion euros, and a November 2025 Cirra contract covers 15 German Eurofighter EK jets.

Honest framing: the HX-2 is an autonomous strike weapon, so the debate over lethal autonomy and meaningful human control is central to Helsing. The company states a human authorizes each engagement; critics dispute whether AI targeting in communications-denied conditions erodes real control. Its most-advanced autonomous targeting is yet to be proven in combat, and effectiveness claims are company-supplied.